


Dreamer 202

by WindblownRebel



Series: Dreamer 202 [1]
Category: Dreamer 202, Furry (Fandom)
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Bar Scene, F/M, First Time Together, Friends to Lovers, Furry, Hook-Up, Hotel Sex, Old Writing, Oral Sex, Original work - Freeform, Outdoor Sex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sharing secrets, Smut, angsty backgrounds, dreamer 202 - Freeform, for fucking's sake, hotel shower sex, outdated writing style, please communicate with your partner omg this was such a surprise for Bella, straight - Freeform, sudden hook-up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindblownRebel/pseuds/WindblownRebel
Summary: Bella Green struggles to find herself amidst all her life choices. She hopes this stranger will be a safe investment of time.
Relationships: Bella Green/Geo, Bella Green/Sivil Everett
Series: Dreamer 202 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605445
Kudos: 1





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be 100% with you I started this work when I was 13ish so most of the earlier chapters are still pretty... rough. I've already begun rewriting it, but the new piece is so different that I honestly plan on posting it all to show the differences and growth.

The bartender looked up from the counter to see a young red wolf walk in. Women weren’t common visitors to his pub, so it was surprising to see one. It was a pretty big sausage-fest at the place he worked, but the pay was good and the patrons weren’t usually rowdy. That night there were only a few men, presumably because people were out of town on holiday for the weekend. The young wolf sat down at the bar, seemingly at ease among the men. He noticed one of the less regular customers was eyeing her in a way that was more than just friendly. Hook-ups and one night stands weren’t uncommon when women came around to drink, but something told the man that this might be something to keep his eyes on. 

She ordered a drink; while the barkeep poured it out to her, the fox got up from his place at his table across the room to sit next to her. This is what he’d been expecting to happen; it was only natural for the men to be interested in a pretty lady such as her.

Speaking of, she was quite a looker indeed. Her hair was chocolate brown and fur creamy red-brown. He could tell she was a wolf by how much larger she was compared to some vixens he’d seen, but she wasn’t overly bulky. Her chest was quite nice; it was hard to ignore the fact that her cup size was easily C-D range, and it was a hard decision whether to stare at her tits or her bright blue eyes. 

With a nod, he handed her drink and began wiping down the counter. His job gave him the chance to people watch, and he was taking advantage of that perk a lot tonight. The wolf and fox began to talk amiably while they drank, appearing to get along quite well. His smile looked like it set her at ease, and the bartender couldn’t help but notice their conversation seemed to become a little more personal as time wore on. He heard bits and pieces, mostly about where they were from and what brought them to the same town. Listening closer, he learned her name was Bella and his was Geo. After a while, he stopped paying attention and wiped down glasses and the bar.

Finally, both of them paid for their drinks and left together. The bartender smiled, knowing the two would probably spend the night together doing only god knows what.

☾~☽

Catching a cab, the two of them went back to Bella’s place for the evening. She set her purse down on a small table next to her front door and clicked on a light. Walking through the door of her modest studio apartment, the gray-white fox took a moment to look around. Tan walls, hardwood floors covered in simple rugs, and a set of comfortable chairs with a matching couch in front of a coffee table and TV presented themselves to him. Sitting on the couch’s armrest, Geo watched her as she went into the kitchen area. Bella returned with a glass of water, offering him a drink. He shook his head.

“I’d rather take a sip of you, frankly.” His words made the wolf blush, and as she sat the glass down Geo dragged her onto his lap to kiss her deeply. Instead of pulling back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back. Bella teased at his lower lip with her teeth, chest pressing into him with every rough breath she took. Their tongues brushed together, taking turns nibbling and sucking. The fox’s hands slid up the back of her black V-neck shirt, deftly unclipping her bra to push it down and out of the way. She lifted herself up away from him to take a good look at Geo; he was handsome, and the tumble off of the arm of the couch had tousled his white, black-tipped hair. The wolf genuinely found him sexy, as the young man could tell by the fact that her eyes wandered down to where their hips were pressed together. 

“Sorry my couch is so short, I’m not used to tall sexy guys visiting every evening,” she gasped out; from her coveted place atop the fox, she had noticed that his knees were bent behind her back. Geo chuckled and slid her shirt off, the previously unclipped bra coming with it. Bella used her hands to hold up her shoulder-length hair away from the back of her neck; the movement served only to accentuate the fact that her chest was in full view and sporting a pair of hard nipples. 

“Trust me, I don’t mind. The couch is the least of my worries right now,” he chuckled deeply, bringing her attention to the fact that he was more than a little hard. Her thighs gently squeezed him, making him shiver and bite his lip.

In the span of less than five seconds, his gaze went from gentle and appreciating to hungry and consumed with lust - and back again. He realized that to make the most of the night, he’d have to give her a better time than she could ever imagine. Geo was confident he could. Taking a deep breath, his eyes slid from the tip of her mismatched ears to her eyes, which were blue as the ocean when pressed so close. Not even Bella’s eyes could hold his attention, though; as he glanced down, her ample set of breasts nearly made him whimper, and her stomach showed that she clearly worked out on a regular basis. He sat up and their noses nearly touched. With a soft kiss, Geo slid out from under her and leaned her back with a hand supporting her head. She felt the distinct change in mood – this was intense, maybe not the simple fuck she might have expected. 

His tongue explored the taste of her lips, her mouth, and her jaw. Bella’s head tipped to the side, cupped below by his large and protective hand. She felt his teeth tease at her ear for a minute and squirmed because it was the opposite direction that she wanted his mouth to go in. Geo sighed happily into her ear, causing her to tug his lips back to hers. “Ah, ah, quite impatient she is,” he rumbled good-naturedly. He was trying to relax her, to see what she wanted from him. 

“Oh it’s my fault, hmm?” Bella didn’t give him time to respond, stealing another kiss. The fox allowed her to satisfy herself for a moment before breaking away. He slid off the edge of the couch, and took a look at his handiwork so far. 

She was breathing heavier now, and her cheeks were flushed. Geo’s hair wasn’t the only one mussed up; her dark hair was spread out over the seat and across her inviting chest. The young man took a moment to brush the hair away from her nipple, cupping it in his palm for a moment before leaning in to take it between his lips. Fire shot through her body, both from surprise and excitement. Bella didn’t know what he was scheming, but at this point she didn’t care anymore. He had her wrapped around his finger, and they both knew it. Using his teeth, Geo played and teased for another moment before switching sides. Her small hand slid through his hair, her lips parting to groan happily.

He looked up to her face and saw that she was watching him with large, dilated pupils that meant she was more than turned on by now. No doubt, she was equally interested in watching him as she was in feeling his attentions. ‘Sexy and a pervert,’ he thought approvingly.

“Ever been told that you’re beautiful?” Geo wanted to distract her. She was so pretty, and he was nervous that she’d had better partners than him. 

“A few people have said so, but none of them convinced me they were being honest,” her voice sounded languid and trusting, and he shivered. Bella’s voice had been the first thing he’d noticed at the bar, and with a hint of horny it was magical. He’d have to hear her sing later…

“Well you are, but don’t take my word for it. I can hardly think, you’ve got me tongue-tied.” Geo’s blush stood out against his white-furred cheeks.

“Hmm… Well while you’re speechless, should we put that mute tongue to use?” Her tawny, golden brown legs slid to either side of him as she sat up again. He was flummoxed, and had to take a moment to realize exactly what Bella was asking from him. A horny, gorgeous wolf was asking him (of all people) to eat her out. This had to be heaven.

He recovered with a start, smiling slowly as he dragged her hips forward to meet his nose. Her skirt hitched up around her as he did so, and even with her panties on Geo could see she was wet. Before allowing himself to get ahead of himself, the nervous arctic fox took a deep breath and slowly exhaled against the inside of her thigh.

Squeaking slightly, Bella had a moment of shyness as she realized he was willing to give her oral – a rare treat for her, he could tell. He wondered what type of partners she’d had, that weren’t willing to give her the attention she needed. Sliding her panties down her legs, he got a glimpse of her pink-red folds. 

The most exciting time for the fox was when he was able to taste a woman, and his shaft gave a large throb from inside his pants. At her vantage point, Bella could see Geo was excited, and she murred her enjoyment. She’d have to get a taste of him soon, she was practically drooling. He ignored his hard-on, determined to give her a turn first. Using his thumbs to spread her open, Geo slid his tongue from bottom to top. As her back arched, Bella grabbed the edge of the cushion with a shuddering moan. His tongue curled deep into her, getting a good taste of her wetness. Instinct told him to focus here, but he knew that her clit was just as sensitive, if not more, so he sucked and kneaded at it gently with his lips and tongue. 

Bella bit her lip, not daring to close her eyes. Such light fur wasn’t common in her town, and the sight of his silky white fur was dazzling, even as he pleasured her so.Green eyes met blue, and both of them paused to inhale at the same time at the sight of one another. After a moment passed, he smiled and kissed her lower stomach before easing back into his work. She was having troubles keeping her voice down, and if she hadn’t been biting her lip, the neighbors would most likely have complained by now. Geo gently slid two fingers inside Bella, coaxing her toward orgasm. Because of being so pent up, it took her a few extra moments to reach climax, but once she did she nearly yelped. His back stiffened as she came, hard-on throbbing painfully from enjoyment. He could barely stay calm, and he cursed silently as he felt a jolt of precum. 

Once she’d calmed down, he pulled his fingers out and licked them clean. Bella growled enviously, obviously used to doing that part herself, and he laughed playfully before giving her a kiss. For a few seconds it seemed like she’d fall asleep, but her kiss became more fervent. A tender caress to Geo's pants gave him a shock to his senses, and Bella smiled as if she was pleased with herself. 

“You’ve held back a lot tonight, which is a lot better than I could say for most of my other male partners. It’s my turn now,” her eyes searched his, as if she was thinking of what to say next. “But there’s a catch… You have to undress for me.”

Up until now Geo’d kept his clothes on, because she hadn’t indicated a desire for something else. Standing up in front of the couch, he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it onto the floor beside her shirt. His pants and boxers followed.

“I’d ask you if you like what you see, but -…” He was cut off as Bella slid off the couch to stand in front of him. She pressed a finger to his lips, smiling playfully. He harrumph’ed, but didn’t put up a fight. He’d decided that he’d give her what she wanted tonight, and his body fell under that decision. 

She slid to her knees, skirt messily covering her hips again. At this height, her nose could comfortably nuzzle into the fluff above the base of his shaft, and her cheek brushed against his silky-hot member. He was vaguely aware of the desk behind him, and he leaned against it – strewing art materials about in the process. Neither of them minded at that moment.

The moment his tip slid onto Bella’s tongue, he had to grip the desk tightly; after over an hour of being ignored, his cock was overly-sensitive. A glance at the pretty wolf’s face he knew she knew, and a devious glint entered her expression. With a single fluid stroke, Geo entered deep into her mouth, which nearly sent him over the edge, and he had to grit his teeth while trying to keep from blowing his load early since Bella was obviously enjoying herself. Even so, a spurt of precum hit her tongue the next time she slid him back inside her mouth. 

He’d never had anybody so eager to take his whole length, but as Geo watched his cock disappear past her lips he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d died and gone to sex heaven. A woman this good was something guys just dreamed of, and here he was experiencing it. 

“Pinch me, I think I’m dreaming,” the pale fox croaked. Bella managed a slight snicker, which wasn’t altogether unpleasant sounding. Without warning she started to suck, using her tongue to knead against the underside of his cock. It didn’t take long for Geo to reach the edge of orgasm, but as soon as she felt him building up she backed off slightly. He groaned, both from relief and frustration. No one had ever refused him an orgasm, and he wasn’t prepared for it.

Standing back up slowly, the shorter woman leaned up and in to give him a kiss, simultaneously pulling him back to the couch. Geo dropped into a sitting position heavily, and Bella settled herself back on top of him with her arms around his neck loosely.

Leaning in closely to his ear, she whispered to him. “Please… I want to feel you cum inside. I need this.” 

He growled softly and flipped them back into the position they were originally, with Bella on her back. She guided him in with a gentle grip, and he slid his whole length into her. Stabilizing himself with a foot over the edge - braced against the floor, Geo pulled back and thrust in deeply. Bella was tight, but as she moaned she clenched even tighter. Both of them were sensitive from their play that night and it was time to have a good, quick fuck. Her legs slid around his lower waist, crossing each other to lock him in place. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Geo began to thrust steadily into his partner. She was so wet; he was afraid he was going too fast, but her groans of protest told him he was going too slow – god forbid. As he sped up he felt Bella tremble, as if her senses were overloaded. The woman dragged his face down for a kiss, forcing him onto his forearms instead of his hands.

Growling against her lips, Geo grabbed her waist to hold her still as he began to get rougher. With a moan, the wolf squeezed her legs tighter, forcefully dragging his hips closer. He winced with surprise, his cock buried deep within the woman, getting closer to orgasm. From her vantage point below him, Bella flicked her pink tongue over his nipple. Shuddering with surprise and pleasure, Geo leaned his head down to her ear to nibble lightly while continuing his relentless pounding into her. The woman’s cries of pleasure were music to his ears, serving only to encourage the horny fox in his endeavor to make his partner cum. 

It wasn’t long before her voice took on a desperate, need-filled tone. He could tell she would cum soon, and sped up to satisfy both of their needs. Each thrust into her depths took more effort as she tightened, but he wanted to give her as much pleasure as he could. He tipped his head down until his lips met the base of her throat. With a gentle, rasping lick, he roughed up the fur along her collarbone. 

Suddenly, the wolf’s back arched sharply upwards, her eyes squeezing shut with shock and pleasure. The moans that escaped her mouth put all the previous ones to shame, and the sounds of her orgasm seared their way through the fox’s body, as if he was hit by lightning. Geo's body stiffened with the urge to cum… but he resisted for a moment. 

“Am I… May I… please…?” He could barely think, let alone speak. Without replying, the supple legs of the wolf squeezed around him, and he didn’t need to ask twice. Once, twice, three times he thrust into her. Vaguely he heard himself moaning but his need was so great that it didn’t register in his mind. 

“Cum for me dear,” Bella’s voice lilted in a gentle, insistent purr, “…Please.” No one had ever asked him to cum, and it was easily the sexiest thing he’d ever heard. Geo's body went rigid as his cock throbbed deep inside her, spurt after spurt hitting her insides. Nearly dizzy from his orgasm, he took a moment before sliding out. 

Gingerly, he settled on top of her and gave her a happy kiss. Bella’s cheeks were flushed from the afterglow, and her mussed hair made her look all the more beautiful. He could tell she was barely able to stay awake at this point, and checked the time; it was nearly 1:30 in the morning. He decided he’d better take her to her bed to let her rest comfortably. Standing on shaky feet, the fox lifted the sleepy Bella into his arms. Geo turned around in a half circle before he located the bed – it was behind a folding screen. With his precious cargo, the man slid down under the covers. His last memory of the night was of her arm slung over his chest and her head on his shoulder.


	2. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bella gets to eat awkward morning after pancakes with the dude she brought home from the bar last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story isn't exactly accurate to Bella and Geo's characters, having been written in their formative stages as my brain children. Please lmk if I need to edit/tag/etc~

Bella awoke to noises in her kitchen. For a second she panicked because she couldn’t see who it was, but once she sat up she could hear humming. Male humming. With a rush of shyness, she realized that Geo must have woken up long before her – it was 11:24am, after all. Once she’d processed the fact that the night before wasn’t a dream, she was more relaxed about the situation. She got up to get some clothes.

When Geo heard blankets move and the bed shift behind the screen, the fox knew she’d gotten up. It hadn’t bothered him that he’d been up before her; it’d been enjoyable, actually. Her shelves had glass panels through which he’d been able to see her dishes, and it surprised him as to what all she had. Nothing seemed to match, but the way things were arranged made sense to him. After closer inspection it appeared Bella had very few glasses; rather, mugs seemed to take their place, and there were quite a few of them for a single woman. (At least this was by his estimates, but the man was a bachelor so he had very little knowledge on which to base this thought.) 

Light filtered in dimly through dark blue-gray curtains, but Bella’s form was visible as she shuffled towards a chair at the table. He hadn’t wanted to turn on a light, for fear of waking her up. It would seem he mightn’t have worried so much, because it was becoming increasingly light by way of natural methods. The woman’s feet pattered against the floor, and she took the chair across the table from Geo so that she could look at him easier with her blurry, sleep-filled eyes. 

Bella turned and drew half of the curtains back from the window, in a manner that wouldn’t blind them right away. Even without looking at the TV, she knew the weather would be amazing that day once the last wisps of fog burned off. With that done her focus returned to the man, and vice versa. Geo wasn’t shy about meeting her gaze; the opposite looked to be true because she became shy after just a few moments of eye contact. This was the part Bella hated about unplanned sleepovers. Before she spoke, he took the liberty of breaking the silence.

“I hope you aren’t uncomfortable with what happened last night,” his voice was gentle, which soothed her worries that Geo'd make a big deal about what they’d done. 

“Not at all, it was the best night I’ve had in months… maybe the past year.” Her slim, mismatched ears flipped back shyly for a moment. When she glanced up, big green eyes were studying her with interest, and she felt blood rise to her cheeks. She was acting like a schoolgirl… she wished she’d had something more mature to add on to that.

He slid his hand across the table, intertwining his fingers with hers. The table wasn’t very wide, so it didn’t take much for Geo to lean across to her. Bella licked her lips slightly, and a second later his lips brushed hers with a tenderness she hadn’t been expecting. This elicited a smile from the woman, and in turn the man. Using his free hand, he cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Even though they were less than ten inches apart in height, his hands dwarfed hers. She liked that. It made her feel… safe. 

After their heated passion not 10 hours before, this was a perfect addition to their time spent together. They used up the better part of an hour talking and enjoying each other’s attention before the wolf’s stomach growled. Bella looked down in surprise at herself, not realizing she’d been hungry. Geo jumped up.

“I volunteer to make breakfast, what would you like?” His smile persuaded her not to protest letting him cook – a change of pace for her, for sure. 

“Uhhh… Well I need to go shopping so about the only thing there is here is pancake mix,” Bella hadn’t expected him to want to stay long enough to eat; honestly, she was surprised she’d gone out for drinks last, even. 

“Pancakes it is. How do you like yours?” He started looking around under the counter for a bowl, and she pointed at the correct door to open. When she tried to stand to help him out, Geo shooed her back to the table. “It’s not every day I get to cook for a pretty girl, let me show you how awesome I am at it,” his grin was full of childish excitement, and she couldn’t help but facepalm and let him do his thing.

“If you break anything you pay for it, that’s my only rule,” she leaned back in her chair, watching the determined fox bustle about her kitchen. “Also, I like cinnamon in my batter, if you don’t mind.” 

“Doesn’t trouble me, cinnamon’s good stuff.” It was interesting for Bella to watch him still, mostly because white fur was uncommon in her town on a fox. ‘He’s tall, but unless you counted his ears or his hair then he’d be about… what, 6 feet tall?’ She was musing to herself as she watched him pour out the batter into one pan and an egg into a second, smaller pan for himself. When he brought over a plate with pancakes, he also brought over toppings he’d scrounged up from her cabinets; Nutella, peanut butter, syrup, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and butter spread. 

With a healthy dollop of peanut butter spread between her first two pancakes and then a bit of butter on top, Bella poured some syrup on top and dug in. Her eyes lit up and she mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes, “Uh mu gud thish ish the beft shuff ever.” (Which roughly translates to, “Oh my god this is the best stuff ever.”)

“I’m glad you like,” Geo smiled as he took a bite from his egg, before adding toppings to his own stack of pancakes. There was amiable silence while they ate, and once they’d finished Bella insisted on doing the dishes herself, but they compromised and did it together. 

☾~☽

By the time they looked at the clock again, it was a quarter to two. She asked Geo if he had anywhere to be, and he shook his head. No one expected him back on campus for another week. This startled the woman, mostly because he looked old enough to have graduated college, but he explained he was going back for extra training that year. 

“So, what did you major in?” His green eyes sparkled gently, pulling her down onto the couch to cuddle in front of the TV. 

“Oh, early childhood, and all that… I work at the local Head Start downtown, and I’d invite you to drop by and see the cuties but unless you’re a parent it’d be really awkward,” Bella’s laugh was gentle, and her nails running through his hair were even gentler. “It doesn’t pay a lot, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“That actually sounds like a really cool job to have, we always need better teachers. Personally, I wanted to go into something dealing with security but the closest I can get to that while going to college is being a security guard at a business. Pays well, but the hours get to be pretty boring when I have the graveyard shift.” Geo pretended to yawn as if it were boring just talking about it, and she smiled.

The couch was wide enough to spoon on, and they flipped through channels, playfully arguing on which channel they should watch. Finally they settled on a crime show, which had a long marathon that day. The two of them made it halfway through an episode before their attentions turned away from the show, and back onto each other. 

Geo's hand slid down Bella’s side, coming to rest on her hip. With her hair drawn back in a lazy bun, he could easily nibble and kiss at her shoulder and neck. She’d secretly been hoping he might do something like this, and her gentle murrs of satisfaction egged him on. He probably didn’t need to be encouraged, but it served to turn him on. Against the base of her tail, where it stemmed from her lower back, the wolf could feel the fox’s cock throb. She resisted the urge to roll over and play with it, instead waiting to see what he wanted to do. 

A white hand slid teasingly close to her underwear; she hadn’t bothered putting on actual pants, because she’d had a feeling they wouldn’t stay on long. A finger ran along the lacy edge, causing her stomach to tense from the ticklish sensation. Bella struggled to sit still. 

“Nnh, you tease…” she mumbled gently, feeling Geo's hand brush close to her crotch but not quite touching. He had a way of making her shiver and her fur stand on edge. It was new and exciting, and she wanted more. A laugh rumbled deep inside his chest as he let his hand wander across her fur. He enjoyed being able to touch the woman, and if her shivers were any indication she was enjoying it too. Eventually he let his hand slip down to her panties again, and he felt dampness through the thin material.

Gently, he tugged her panties down to her ankles, nuzzling at her neck. Bella’s fur smelled like a mix of something exotic; vanilla and sandalwood, perhaps? Whatever it was, she smelled sweet and spicy. His hand rubbed up the fur along her inner thigh, slightly ruffling her fur in the process. Before continuing, Geo slid out of his pants and boxers both, before settling down against her back again. She was so warm, and he enjoyed the feeling of her body pressed against his stomach and chest. 

“You are so lovely, I can’t say it often enough,” his voice was low and full of need. She could feel his chest expand every time he took a breath, and she noticed he’d begun to breathe faster. Her body responded to his need without her permission, but she didn’t mind. The tall, slim fox was what she’d been hoping for as a partner. 

“I’d say the same for you, if it doesn’t sound too weird coming from a girl,” Bella chuckled. In her position she couldn’t touch and play with him as much as she wanted to, but she was happy nonetheless. Geo's presence simultaneously put her at ease and heated her up, and she was almost ready to flip over and take what she wanted. She was an impatient wolf.

The fox, on the other hand, was patient; he knew that she was almost to her limit with his gentle teasing, but he wanted to draw it out as long as he could because he knew it drove Bella nuts. With a light grinding motion Geo pressed his cock against her back, quietly reminding her exactly how much she turned him on. He could hear her groan softly and decided he’d teased her enough.

Lifting the wolf’s top leg up and over his hips, he angled her so that she was right over the tip of his cock. He slid his bottom arm under her neck, and used his other hand to gently tease at her wet opening. She’d been ready for a while, but the extra wait had aroused her more than he’d expected it to; he brought his fingers to his lips, taking a taste. When Bella reached up to pull his fingers out of his mouth, he thought she would make him continue his play, but instead she sucked his fingers into her own mouth. Geo gaped slightly, caught off guard and terribly turned on. He let her lick them clean before reclaiming his hand.

Instead of continuing to tease the already whimpering wolf he slid his shaft between her legs, spreading Bella open and heating her up with his warmth. The fox resisted entering her for a moment, choosing to grind into her slightly to torment the horny wolf. Feeling extra wetness against his cock, Geo caved. Gingerly he slid the tip in, thrusting in slowly-increasing movements. Once he’d hilted himself in her depths, he reached up with his mouth to bite and suck tenderly at her ear. 

She arched her back, her hips pressing down into his as her shoulders leaned back against his chest. Bella wanted more. The man happily obliged; he was aching from going slow, but the discomfort was worth it to him when he got to see such a beautiful woman express her need. From the woman’s perspective, Geo was the most infuriatingly wonderful partner she’d ever had, and even with how unused to taking things slow she was this was something she knew she could get used to.

Beginning to enjoy himself, Geo sped up. Her chest bounced slightly with every impact, and her surprised moans said more than words ever could. The angle was different than what he was used to, and it gave a whole new set of sensations. As for Bella… she was blissfully happy. To keep her positioned right above him, Geo looped his arm under her leg and held it steady, continuing to thrust into her. The wolf bit her lip slightly, as if to hold back moans of ecstasy, but it didn’t work; her voice cried out every so often when he’d make contact with sensitive spots inside her. 

There seemed to be something that day that was different from the night before; maybe Bella was more relaxed because her sexual frustration had been relieved, but she appeared to be less able to hold back now than she had before. Her pleasure turned him on, and he began to thrust deeper to answer her need. The wolf seemed like she was stuck on the edge, an ocean of overwhelming desire held back; if he could just last another minute, he knew he’d be able to trigger her climax. 

Tilting onto his back to keep the woman on top of him, the fox slid his hand down to tease at her clit while he lightly bit at the base of her neck. With a gasp of surprise, Bella braced her feet against the couch and arched her back upwards. It satisfied him greatly to know she enjoyed his attention; even more so when he knew she was practically trembling from need. 

She finished faster than either of them were expecting; Bella whimpered helplessly as her lungs refused to allow her to take a deep enough breath of air to moan. The wolf had climaxed so hard that she was literally speechless. For a moment he slowed down so that she could catch her breath, but his cock throbbed in protest; she was a huge turn-on to him.

Geo murred with enjoyment, and gently slid them around so that she was on her stomach with him on top, in a relaxed doggystyle position. She was still sensitive from her orgasm so he tried to take it slower, but the woman pressed her hips into him each time he entered, grinding him deeper. 

“Alright, if that’s how you want it…” he growled playfully into her ear, voice deep and quiet. Each thrust of Geo's cock into Bella began to get rougher and faster, aided by the fact that she was so wet from her climax. It didn’t take long for him to feel himself building, and he groaned with need. It was his turn to cum, and the wolf knew it; she began meeting him halfway each time he entered, driving him in deeper. 

“Nhh, please cum inside… Let me feel how much you want me,” Bella moaned softly, sounding suspiciously close to cumming again. Squeezing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath, Geo slid his hands under the wolf to give her chest a light squeeze. They fit perfectly in his hands, and he could feel her hard nipples pressing into his hands. It wasn’t every time that he could predict when he was close, but this time he saw it from a mile away.

“C-cumming…” his voice became hoarse, and with a few final thrusts into the woman he felt himself explode, shooting spurt after spurt of cum. Geo stayed still a moment, breathing heavily. 

Bella carefully flipped over, leaning up to kiss him with a smile. The tired white fox returned the kiss, looking into the sapphire blue eyes of his partner. After being alone for so long, life was starting to look a lot less lonely.


	3. Dinner & A Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow Bella's managed to get Geo back to her house for dinner. There's clumsy attempts at getting to know each other over spaghetti.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the last one I wrote before a lot of large changes in my life, some of which affected the plan I'd had for the story. So, from here on out expect occasional plot twists. They were plot twists for me too...!

After leaving the apartment at around 3pm, the white fox was at a loss as to what he should do. It was a Sunday, and Geo had nowhere to be and nothing to do. There was a strip mall a block or two away, he remembered vaguely, so he strolled on his way in that direction. 

On his walk to the mall, he shoved his hands deep into his dark hoodie. A breeze ruffled his white, black-tipped hair, and the air smelled of rain. Deep in thought, the fox absent-mindedly pulled out a stick of mint gum and started chewing on it. As he rounded the corner of the building, he headed towards the food court. Once Geo had gotten a drink and chosen a table, he was free to think in peace…

☾~☽

Back in the apartment, Bella bustled about. Once she was alone, her studio apartment seemed twice as empty as it had before, and there was a distinct silence that prevailed. It was uncomfortable to her after the short time Geo had been there, but she tried to ignore it. 

With nothing but shopping to do for errands, she decided to get it out of the way for the next week or two. The store down the street had everything she usually needed, so she took a couple reusable mesh bags for groceries. It didn’t take long before she was back home putting food away; she looked around, realizing that her apartment needed a good cleaning. When everything had been straightened and all the clothes had been folded, the wolf’s ears drooped. She was bored, and it wasn’t even 5 o’clock yet. With a sigh, she dropped onto the too-big bed and stared at her phone. Bella hoped he’d check his phone soon…

☾~☽

Geo'd had a soda and a hamburger, but hadn’t thought of anything to do that’d give him any entertainment. The hotel he was staying at had Wi-Fi and his laptop, so he caught a bus back to the place he was staying at. Traveling and staying in new places was foreign to the fox, and he felt inherently out of place. His hometown was by no means small, but as he traveled to larger and grandiose cities he could feel the culture shock kick in. It felt good… Geo was happy to know he wasn’t just letting it all slide by. 

The bus jogged him in his seat, and he felt his pocket vibrate. Pulling the phone out, the fox saw he had a message from a contact he knew he hadn’t put in – but knew right away who had. The icon was a fuzzy, off-center picture of the woman he’d spent the better part of a day with; he smiled widely. Bella’s message was short, only a few words long.

[BG] _Having pasta for dinner tonight. Join?_

It’d only been a few hours since he’d left, but Geo was already eager to go back. He wasn’t used to going back and forth between places in this town yet, but he was totally willing to do so. Zipping his jacket up before getting off the bus, he responded to tell her he’d make it to dinner. Less than a minute later, she responded.

[BG] _So excited, come hungry! I went shopping, so there’s plenty to eat._

For once, the man was looking forward to a meal, because it wouldn’t be spent alone or with annoying male friends. This time he packed a bag, bringing his spiral notebook, laptop, and an extra shirt just in case. He didn’t know if he’d use his computer, but he felt safer knowing it was next to him versus 5 miles away in an unoccupied hotel room, considering 99% of his stuff was currently on it. If he lost it or it was stolen, he’d definitely be SOL when he got back to campus. 

It was only 5:30, and he paced for another five minutes while trying to decide if he wanted to get onto the next bus out or not. When Geo realized it might be an extra hour if he waited too long, he jogged down to the bus stop and stood there. The day hadn’t been as rainy as he’d expected; apparently in this area of on it was common for clouds to pass through without dropping anything.  
The bus finally came, and he was hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. Jostling his way in amongst the few passengers that were on, he settled in.

[GP] _I’m on my way. ^^_

Bella didn’t respond right away, which seemed to be unusual with how quickly she’d been replying earlier. He guessed she was cooking or otherwise busy, so he tried not to be too anxious about whether he was too early or not. The fox’s foot tapped a beat on the floor of the bus as it rounded the corner towards the stop nearest Bella’s apartment. He felt like he had a coffee buzz; it’d been a while since he’d anticipated something this much. Half the time he kept his eyes shut, trying not to rehearse any lines or imagine any scenarios. It was tough, and he wasn’t very successful. When the bus stopped, Geo nearly tripped on his way off, and he caught himself. His bag flipped around and tangled itself around his arm, and he cursed silently as he untwisted it while he walked back to the apartment complex. 

Large Oak trees lined the street in front of the buildings that the wolf called home, and he noticed the leaves were finally starting to sprout for the coming spring. Technically it already was spring, but apparently the non-evergreens had yet to get that memo. Even still, Geo could imagine how quaint the area would be when the leaves filled out. Behind the apartments spread a patch of forest that had yet to be cleared for construction; he liked it, and found himself secretly hoping no one cut the trees down. 

As he walked towards the building that Bella lived in, his feet crunched over little drifts of pine needles; they were brown and lifeless, but they caught his interest nonetheless. In front of the woman’s apartment, he stood for a moment. With a small inhale to steady himself, he started to knock – but the moment he raised his hand the door burst open and he was dragged in hastily. Bella laughed happily, standing on her tip-toes to nuzzle his cheek gently. 

“Hey, wasn’t I just here a little while ago?” His voice was deep with amusement, but he still appreciated her enthusiasm for his return. 

“It felt like an eternity, don’t do that again,” she pretended to pout, but her tail swishing behind her gave away her pleasure in seeing him again. The white-furred fox scooped her into his arms, burying his face in her hair as he did so. Her arm slid over his shoulder, and he swayed her gently as he carried her over to the couch. Plopping her down unceremoniously, he laughed; her hair was jumbled, and she was in a crooked position that seemed as if she belonged somewhere else. 

Growling playfully, Bella dragged the man down with her, and she wrapped an arm over his chest. They both sighed happily, not saying anything because there didn’t seem to be anything that was worth speaking about. It was comfortable on the sofa as they were, and it was completely okay to be quiet together for a few minutes.

Both heads popped up when a timer began to beep, and the wolf had to untangle herself from Geo and his jacket to get up. Ungracefully tripping and banging her hip against the armrest of the couch, she groaned and shuffled to the oven. Turning off the timer, she began stirring a pot and checking a second one. 

The curious man sat up, double-checking to see if his laptop was alright before getting up to offer help. He leaned against her back slightly, sniffing from over her shoulder. 

“I take it you don’t use the canned stuff, eh?” It smelled great; Geo's mouth was watering.

“Only when I’m feeling lazy enough, but I had the ingredients so I decided to actually work a little.” She smirked. He couldn’t see her face directly, but her voice held an edge of laughter still. She backed up, bumping into him in the process. 

“I’ll go sit down, you have this under control.” Scooting over to the table they’d sat at earlier that day, he grabbed his laptop and took the seat that gave him a clear view of the oven. “Do you have Wi-Fi? I haven’t checked my email since Friday.”

“Oh yeah, here’s the password. I keep it written down just in case any of my friends wants to hook up to it.” Bella passed a recipe card with the password on it across the table, and checked inside the oven. Garlic and butter wafted over to the fox, and he melted.

From inside the man’s jeans came a faint buzzing; he pulled out his phone and checked the screen. Looking over to the woman, he mouthed ‘I need to take this,’ before he hopped off the chair and answered the call.

“Hey, how ya doin?” He sounded really cheerful, and it piqued the wolf’s interest. She couldn’t hear anything from his phone, though. He paused for a moment before continuing, “I’ve been meaning to call or text, but I’ve been pretty busy. No, no, the town’s gorgeous, and everyone says ‘Hi.’ Is there anything happening down there that I’ve missed?” 

She stirred the sauce one last time, testing its temperature. It was almost warm enough, so she turned off the burner and let it sit to finish heating. Digging in one of her lower cupboards, she searched as quietly as she could for the colander. 

“Alright, well I should probably go, I’m about to eat dinner with a friend. Tell Lucy and everyone else I say hello, and let them know I’m doing fine.” He paused again. “Yeah! Okay, anyways, take care. Yep, bye.” Sliding the phone back into his pocket, Geo smiled sheepishly at the wolf. 

“How rebellious of you to not call home,” she chided lightheartedly, dumping the pasta back into its pot. 

“Hey! Don’t blame me, from where I stand it’s a certain little woman who’s kept me too busy,” he chuckled, sitting back down at the table. She huffed noisily, but hid her smile while she took the garlic bread out of the oven.

“Well, be that as it may, it’s good you checked in.” The woman bit her lip anxiously, suddenly realizing that the fox had a family and people back home; she hadn’t considered that. “I’m sure if I had much family left, they’d be interested in how I was during trips, too.” She awkwardly wiped her hands on a towel after putting the bread on a plate.

“Don’t you have anyone in the area?” He hadn’t asked her about her family, mostly because he didn’t want to pry into things that weren’t his business. 

“N-no… Not exactly…” She brought over plates and forks, smiling sadly. “Everyone besides my two half siblings have died by now, I’m sure…”

His eyebrows knotted together. He’d met a few people with messed up families – hell, he came from one, but he didn’t really know anyone who was totally alone. Dishing their plates up, the wolf began to tell her story to him…in full this time, not just about her career and lifestyle. 

_She was from a low income family, and at an early age her mother had died. Her grandmother tried her best to take good care of her, but it was tough. The wolf’s father was a drug addict, and he’d suddenly move from the house to live with strange women on a whim, forcing the girl to come along with him. Before she was double-digits, he died and left her alone with her grandmother, and she lived relatively well until she was sixteen._

As she told her story, the woman didn’t show any tears, but the man could tell she’d cried often. He slid his hand across the table to hold hers gently, and she continued her tale.

_When Bella was sixteen, her grandma became ill; for nearly six months she was hospitalized, and during that time the young girl was put into the system. Foster care treated her roughly, though not as much as some stories she’d heard. Taking matters into her own hands, she went to court and was granted adulthood by a judge. Bella was happy, but scared. Her grandma was still very sick, and the wolf wasn’t allowed to take care of her. Right before Christmas, her grandma died. She was devastated._

_Eventually the young woman moved out of the state to pursue potentially better education, though it was extremely tough. It was a daily struggle, but she worked hard and got her teacher’s license. She moved back to a town near where she’d grown up, and began helping the children in need of a role model as a teacher... And that’s where Geo had found her._

With a deep breath, she concluded her story. It took a moment before he could react, and he didn’t know what was appropriate for a response.

“That’s… Wow. You must hear pretty often that you’re amazing, right?” Geo gave her hand a squeeze.

“Yeah, mostly from my kids though.” Bella beamed, and he knew she meant her students. He admired her infinitely more for her strength, and found her so much more wonderful.

“I know we haven’t known each other for a very long time, but the fact that you trusted me with your story like that really makes me happy. I mean, I’m not happy it happened, but… You know what I mean.” The arctic fox struggled to verbalize what was on his mind. She just smiled. 

They finished up their meal, and she put the lids back onto the pots. The pair sat at the table for a few minutes and talked, but after a while the red wolf stood up.

“Want to go for a walk? The woods behind the apartments have a few trails that no one uses, but they’re super pretty. C’mon, the sun’s about to start setting and it’s really nice out.” Bella’s smile convinced him, so he grabbed his jacket.

She locked the door once they were outside, and she grabbed Geo's hand to guide him and bounced happily across the lawn between buildings. Once they were on the trail she dropped his hand, getting distracted with telling him stories of things she’d seen while walking out along the paths. He was listening, but it was hard to pay attention. The woman was wearing a pair of white shorts and a blue tank top, with her hair pulled back into a braided ponytail. It seemed Bella trusted whatever plants and animals were out there, because she was still barefooted and hadn’t bothered with shoes. 

Her bright blue eyes looked up into his when they stopped at a place with a clear area. The trees grew far enough apart at this spot that there was a clear patch of sky, and it was turning pink and purple with the sun’s descent. Bella dropped to the ground, lying on her back in the cool grass with her knees bent. Geo sat down beside her, looking more at her than at their surroundings.

The woman glanced up at him, and for a moment it seemed like they were the only two in the world. He leaned down, lips hovering an inch away from hers for a second. Her hand slid up, pulling him close enough to kiss. With a happy sigh Bella’s lips parted, and his tongue teased its way past them. They smiled lazily at each other, not feeling any need to rush their actions. It was a rare moment for the pair; the only thing they needed to think about was being close to each other.

Romance turned to passion quickly, though, as the fox slid his hand under her tank top to caress her side. A second kiss followed the first, and the wolf teased the fox’s lips in return for earlier. The man felt a throbbing in his jeans, and he groaned happily when she slid her hand down to press against the forming bulge. A shiver went down his spine as the woman teased at his cock from outside his pants. 

Geo carefully slid on top of the woman, letting his hardening cock press into her lower stomach through their clothes. She felt her body react, and gasped happily when she felt him twitch against her. Using her small hands to grab his ass, the wolf rocked her hips up into his. From her angle she couldn’t undo his clothes; she’d have to wait for him to do that…but she could definitely let him know what she wanted: him, and every bit of his length. The fox was fully aware that she was interested, but he was having fun playing around. He took off his jacket, spreading it out flat on the grass behind them. 

Getting up from his coveted position, the man walked back on his knees, dragging her with him until she was lying on his jacket, as if it were a blanket. He continued to move away, until he could comfortably lie down on his stomach in front of her hips. The wolf’s shorts were removed, and he slid his arms under her legs. The fox could feel his cock throbbing against his lower stomach, equally excited at the thought of having time with her right now as he was the first time he saw her partially dressed. 

Her light pink panties seemed girly in comparison to what she usually wore, which made him smile. Kissing them gently, he removed them enough to position himself in front of her again. He could already tell she was wet, and he ached to be inside. Taking a small breath to calm his body down a bit, the man spread her with two of his fingers. When his strong tongue met her clit for the first tentative lick, he felt a jolt of wetness. He hadn’t realized she was so turned on. 

The wolf’s breath was shaky as she took a breath inwards, and when he glanced up he could see she had her head tilted to the side with her arm under her neck, a smile playing on her lips. She was comfortable and with a trusted partner… that’s all she seemed to want in the world right now. The man murred quietly against her as he watched her expression - he enjoyed being able to be so close to such a magnificent woman. When she began to whimper softly, he decided she’d been teased enough.

From down on top of the jacket, the wolf watched her partner as he sat up to undo his jeans. Sunlight dappled over his fur, turning the pristine shades of white into that of light yellow-gold. Where the shadow of the trees covered him, his fur became slightly dark, but she liked how it looked. Bella held her hand out to him, inviting him back to her. With a smile, he inched his way back over top of her, kissing her nose. His cock pressed insistently against her thigh, warm and hard. With a gentle kiss to the base of his throat, she slid her hand down to wrap around his shaft, stroking slowly. The fox groaned happily, blushing a bit as pre began to bead at his tip. She smiled, which in turn made him smile too – he couldn’t help it. 

He was trying not to be too impatient, but when the woman began to pick up speed with her pumping, he gritted his teeth with pleasure. 

“Hey, now… What are you trying to do here?” The fox panted quietly. She only smiled and continued, teasing up and down his shaft. Shimmying downwards, the wolf’s long tongue met his tip to lap up the precum that was sliding down the underside. From his angle he watched as her head bobbed up and down, her mouth taking his cock. He groaned, grabbing fistfuls of the jacket that the wolf was laying on. “You’re going to get a mouthful there, if you don’t slow down…” She glanced up at him, pausing.

“And why would that be such a bad thing?” Her voice was playful, and he could tell she was enjoying herself. Sighing happily and raising an eyebrow, he let her continue. Geo couldn’t help himself as he edged quickly towards climax, and before long he was panting heavily.

“Babe, I’m going to cum soon…” He chewed at his lip, not wanting her to stop. Her slurping increased in speed, and he squeezed his eyes shut from pleasure. “Oh my god…” Bella’s hands cupped around his balls while her tongue working the length of his cock. When she took his whole length into her mouth, he held her head still. Thick shots of his cum shot out against her tongue, and she gulped happily as he twitched in her mouth.

Finally able to sit back, she smiled and licked her lips. Geo took a deep breath to slow his breathing down a bit then leaned down to kiss her. For a few minutes, they both stared out at the sun between the trees as it made its slow descent.

☾~☽

Walking back from the woods was surreal. The sun had set and the air was cooling down, yet the clouds and sky still looked like they’d been painted. Neither of them wanted to forget that moment, and as they walked they kept glancing to each other. The woman unlocked the door to her apartment, stepping inside. Tomorrow she had work, which meant he would be totally alone until mid-afternoon. Her blue eyes glanced over at his bag, open on the couch. He’d packed an extra shirt, but no toothbrush or overnight supplies.

“Would you like me to grab an extra toothbrush for you?” Brushing hair out of her face, the slight wolf looked over her shoulder to him. 

“Oh, yeah I didn’t think about grabbing any of my stuff, that’d be great,” he said. He hadn’t expected her to invite him for the last few days of his trip, but he was happy she had. The flight back was on Wednesday, but he’d run out of places he wanted to go long before he’d met her. The bar had been his last-ditch effort to have some fun, that Saturday night.

He watched her open a closet and rummage around in little organization containers. Finally finding a toothbrush, the wolf turned around and held it up with a little “ta-da” motion. She opened it and took it to the bathroom for him. The fox smiled, zoning out slightly. It was only 8 or 9pm, but he’d had a large dinner and an energetic evening so far and he was feeling slightly worn out. He vaguely recognized the sound of running water as she brushed her teeth, but his thoughts were floating around somewhere between “here” and “there.” 

Sitting up straight, he had a sudden thought. He didn’t want to bother her while she was brushing her teeth though, so he forced himself to sit back against the couch. When she returned, she plopped down beside him, sitting on top of her leg. “Is something wrong, dear? You look troubled.”

“I just had a question…” Geo fidgeted. “Are… I mean, we haven’t been using protection. Is it going to be alright…?” He ran his hand through his hair nervously. 

“Oh, I should have told you sooner that I’ve got birth control, don’t worry. It’s about a 5% chance that I’d actually get pregnant…” She smiled apologetically, laying her head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he twisted around and dragged her on top of him. The young wolf pulled a small couch pillow over to put behind his head, kissing his jawline affectionately. Silently, she wished that she could have a child of her own, but being a single mother would be infinitely harder than simply being single. 

“I wish I didn’t have to go back…” The man sighed quietly.

“Why do you have to go? I thought you’re going into security, that’s something you could do just about anywhere,” the red wolf nuzzled her face into his shirt. She was used to being alone, but now that he was there she didn’t want him to leave.

“I am in security, sort of, and I have enough experience and qualifications, but I’m taking classes on journalism because that was originally my first choice of majors.” He shrugged slightly from beneath her, eyebrows knitting together. “I mean, my classes end in two months, and that’s all I planned on taking for journalism. It’s probably not going to pan out anyway, security is my best bet, but I was offered a really good job right before my trip...”

“Hmm…” She ran her hand down his silky white arm, finding his hand and slipping her fingers between his. She didn’t exactly know what to say, because she didn’t want to presume anything about his home life. 

“What’s that ‘hmm’ for?” An eyebrow shot up.

“I was just imagining something crazy, it’s nothing.” 

“Come on, tell me, I wanna hear now that you’ve said something,” he pleaded. His lip even started to pout, which made her smile.

“Fine… I was just picturing you coming to live here once you’re all done. Like I said, it’s crazy. I’ve just had such an amazing few days.” Her cheeks flamed pink, and his eyes widened with surprise. 

“Well, this is your home not mine…” He paused regretfully. “I have things back home still; I wouldn’t be able to move out here for another two years. I don’t want to make you wait for me that long, I really hope you understand. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed the top of her head gently. She smiled half-heartedly, but inside she was disappointed; she knew that for a random encounter, it’d be more than amazing if it’d actually worked out to where they could live closer. 

“Yeah, I figured that we’d be stuck with what was on our plates already, but I wanted to offer. But you better stay in touch with me, or I’ll hunt you down and smack you.” The young woman’s lips quirked up into a lopsided smile, trying to lighten the mood. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes; the fact that they’d started talking about distances really hit home how short this was going to be.


	4. Home Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PTSD rears its head when Bella experiences abandonment, separation anxiety, and the friends that have helped her through every episode since childhood. Angst, sadness...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write smuts not tragedies, but I'll be damned if this isn't another one of those plot twists I wasn't expecting originally. ;o;

Bella unlocked the door to the apartment, and noticed that something felt different. A quick glance around her place showed Geo's things to be missing; the bed was made, all the pillows arranged on the couch, and no dirty dishes in the sink from either of them. It was as if he’d never visited. 

[BG] _Hey, where are you??_

She waited for a response. One came quickly, but not the answer she wanted.

[GP] _Had to go home. Sorry._

After opening the text, Bella collapsed on her couch in a heap and sent another message asking why he had to go, and when she would see him next. Geo took longer replying to those, but eventually he answered:

[GP] _Lucy got hurt, car accident. IDK if I’ll ever be able to come back, Bella._

Turning the display off on her cellphone, she sat back heavily against a pile of pillows. Work had been exhausting that day, and the sudden turn of events was tough on her. None of her friends had known about him so she felt completely, utterly alone and abandoned. Picking her phone back up, Bella called the one person she knew would understand. 

“…Hello? Bella, what’s up? You don’t usually call me when I’m at work.” Alice’s voice chimed over her speaker. Bella’s eyes watered, and a sob shook her chest.

“Alice, oh my god… Come over right now, I need to tell you everything that happened. It’s real bad.” She hiccupped, and wiped her eyes.

“Oh god, okay Bella, hold in there dear. I’ll leave work early and head over.” 

She nodded, even though no one could see her. O-okay… I can wait.” With a dial tone, the call ended. The apartment sounded so quiet and empty; sounds of canned laughter from the TV in an apartment above her seemed loud and ironic. Standing up to grab a drink of water, Bella halfheartedly turned the tap on. Deciding instead on some tea, the depressed woman popped the mug into the microwave and reached for a box of teabags. A knock interrupted her silence.

“Hey Bella… Are you there?” A muffled woman’s voice came through her front door. Relief flooded her body as she padded over to the door to let her friend inside. Outside the door, a short field mouse with bright, wavy red hair stood with a black purse and bag. After Alice sat her purse and bag down, she reached for her friend to hug her. They stood together for a minute, Bella holding back sobs. “Wait, I grabbed something; this is cliché enough that I thought you’d appreciate it…” 

“Huh? What did you bring?” Momentarily, her tears stopped. Alice procured a tub of ice cream – vanilla with swirls of blackberry jelly. 

“That’s my favorite flavor! But isn’t ice cream during cry sessions really stereotypical?” Even when dealing with a broken heart, Bella couldn’t help but point out things like that.

“Exactly, that’s why I got it for us. Now come on, sit down. I’ll dish out some for you, you start talking.” She bustled off to get bowls and spoons. 

Over the next few hours, the story was told of Geo and their short-lived romance. Alice comforted Bella as best she could, listening and sharing dessert and emotions. When the ice cream was long gone and sobs had become small shivers, they turned on the TV and made popcorn for movies. Although it helped, the deep unhappiness was lodged front and center in her mind. 

☾~☽

Within two months of her sudden drop back into being single, Bella lost nearly 15 pounds and had stopped going outside for basically anything besides work and groceries. Friends came over and checked in from time to time; watching TV or playing videogames with her, but for the most part the once-cuddly wolf had lost her luster. Her doctor decided to put her back on her antidepressants, which seemed to keep her on an emotional flatline. 

4/9/14 9:03PM [BG]: _How are you? Haven’t heard from you since you left._

4/17/14 5:27PM [BG]: _Hey there, miss you..._

5/2/14 10:46AM [BG]: _Just wondering how you were doing._

5/30/14 2:18PM [BG]: _Geo...? Thinking of you._

The woman would stare at her messages, hoping an answer would come. With each passing text, her optimism dwindled. Finally, she decided she’d send one last text.

6/3/14 6:08AM [BG]: _I won’t bug you anymore, but I wanted to say I love you._

Bella dropped her phone onto the kitchen table and got up to make toast and microwave oatmeal, feeling unusually worried. It was hard to finally admit that she should probably let go. As she stirred the milk into her bowl of oats, her phone came alive with the sound of buzzing. 

[GP] _Oh my god, will you just leave me alone already?_

[GP] _I’ve seen every fucking text… You don’t have to sound so clingy._

[GP] _It was just a few days during spring break, why are you making such a big deal out of everything that happened? CHRIST._

She was confused. Clingy, maybe – big deal, though? The woman couldn’t understand why Geo would sound so awful; it wasn’t like the man she had met. Uneasily, she replied, against her better judgment.

[BG] _…What? I thought it was important to you too? I fell in love with you that week, Geo. I’ve just been trying to get answers; you’ve totally left me in the dark. What’s going on? Who’s Lucy, and why did you have to leave when she had an accident?_

Sighing, Bella dropped into a chair with her oatmeal and toast. Chewing at a mouthful of her toast, she read his reply.

[GP] _You fucking bitch, this is Lucy. I’m his girlfriend, the one you fucking cheated on when you had your oh-so-special spring break. Slut. Just let it go already, you’ve stressed him out with all your whining. So, yeah. :) Bye._

Too sick to finish the rest of her food, she dumped the whole bowl into the sink and went back to bed. At a loss for what to say or do, Bella decided to continue on with what she’d been doing the last few months: surviving from day to day with as little emotional exercise as possible. If Alice could see her right then, she’d get called a weak wuss. Regardless, it seemed like the easiest course of action while her broken heart tried to repair itself.


	5. New Beginnings to Old Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella's tender heart comes out of its hiding place when she goes to a housewarming party. Will our intrepid young heroine find peace for herself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part of the story that I found most difficult, at the time. It was after a hiatus, and I was worried continuing the story would hurt. But here we are~! Alice is married in Dreamer 202, which is absolutely hilarious to me because I can't imagine her actually being settled down.

One afternoon on a three day weekend right before summer started, Bella was awoken to the sound of her doorbell ringing repeatedly. Groggily stumbling to the door in an oversized T-shirt and mini shorts, she squinted through the peep hole. It was Alice and a girl she knew only by face. 

“Okay, okay, hold your horses girlie.” The door was summarily unlocked and tossed open. Alice stomped in and surveyed the apartment, while the second girl timidly snuck past the doorway so she could close the door behind her. Bella didn’t know much about the horse, but she knew the girl was German and majorly introverted.

“S-sorry to barge in, Bella,” murmured the young woman, while Alice started tossing things in the trash can and clothes hamper. 

“Holy shit girl, you’ve got yourself a major mess here. What happened to the neat freako that I know?” Pointedly stomping over to the kitchen sink with a handful of mugs and plates, she set them down and wiped her hands on her ripped jeans. Bella just stood and stared with her jumbled head of hair and ratty sleeping clothes.

“Um…” She managed to say, before Alice began to size her figure up.

“Jazzie, grab me some clean underwear from that laundry basket, I’ll find a shirt and pants for her.” Both of the girls buzzed around the room, Alice tossing clothes into Bella’s arms and Jazzie handing things quietly. When a full outfit was finally in her arms, she was bustled into her bathroom and had the door barred. 

“Uh, guys? Are you seriously doing this?” She sighed slightly, used to Alice’s theatrics.

“Hell yes I’m doing this to you, we have a party to go to. You haven’t been to one in, what, like an eon? Come on come on, it starts in half an hour and we need to grab food for it.” Bella could hear her flats tap on the hardwood floor outside.

“Okay, fine… I’ll go out, just this once.” She usually wasn’t much of a partier anyway, and this seemed like weird party clothes; white jean mini shorts and a cute, light blue T-shirt that had a kitten wearing sunglasses on it. Obviously it wasn’t the club type, especially since it was… Bella glanced at the clock. …One o’clock PM. Changing quickly, she shimmied her shirt down over the top of her lacy white bra. Jesus, did they have to give her the dressy matching underwear? “Let me brush my teeth and hair, and I’ll be ready.”

“Bitch please, let me braid it.” Alice popped the door open and peeked inside.

“Alice, you suck at braiding, that’s why your hair is short…” Bella smiled softly, to which Alice stuck her tongue out fiercely. 

“Um, I know how to braid… I have four younger sisters,” Jazzie chimed, voice gentle. She slid through the door behind Alice and started working at the braid while Bella did her makeup. Not five minutes later, her hair and makeup was done and ready to go. She slipped on her dark blue-black flats and grabbed her wallet and keys.

“So, where are we off to?” 

“A couple I’m friends with is getting married this summer so they’re moving into a house in one of the newer neighborhoods, I thought we’d head over and pester them. I hear Jack’s making his famous barbeque ribs, so I couldn’t resist.”

Bella groaned inwardly; a housewarming party, just what she needed today. Alice was too excited to just let her stay home, though, so she decided not to fuss. Free food is free food, after all. 

On the way over to the party, they grabbed a couple huge bags of chips and practically one of every type of dip the store had. Noms in hand, they trooped off to the car giggling to themselves over the boys who’d tried flirting with Alice. 

“You know, it’s really fun being married, y’all should try it someday,” she chuckled. Jazzie smiled, and Bella shook her head with a laugh.

“Yeah, but you get into more trouble than when you were still dating Kyle, dork.” 

“Not true! Okay, maybe a little true… But that’s not my fault, I swear,” Alice tried to defend herself, breaking down into another round of giggles. “Did you see that one guy who was staring at Jazzie’s ass, though? He wasn’t that bad looking.” A round of nods went through the car as they all agreed that he had been pretty attractive.

Rolling up behind one of many cars on the street, the trio each grabbed a bag or two and headed up to a pretty, newly-constructed house. To be fair, the whole street looked like it had just been built yesterday, but this one in particular was full of teens and adults. Couples and groups walked around the front yard, and a gaggle of children ran around after a giant mastiff in the back yard. 

Walking through the wide-open front door, the smell of foods wafted around them. The bags of chips and dip were lifted from their hands and taken to serving bowls on a large table. All three girls glanced at each other and held back giggles. A young woman came up to hug them, and Alice seemed to become more hyper than before.

“Guys, this is the lucky girl who gets to live in this house, meet Sarah,” she bounced a bit, and then noticed some people she recognized. With a wave, she ran off to hug them and chat. Jazzie and Bella made pleasantries with the hostess before Sarah got called away, leaving the girls to grab food and sit together on a couch. 

“I don’t really know what to do whenever I’m at parties like this,” Jazzie murmured quietly. Bella nodded in agreement, sipping soda. They watched as a group of boys hauled in a box that hadn’t been unpacked yet, pulling out a few gaming consoles and the cords for them. The flat screen TV was summarily hooked up to them, and the controllers were pulled out. Bella grinned, grabbing an Xbox controller to join in, but the guys scoffed at having a girl that knew how to play anything.

“Excuse me, I hold the record KD in my group, so sit down and shut up,” she sassed, picking out one of the games. They Oooh’ed and grabbed their controllers, taking up the seats in the living room. Jazzie watched with interest as Bella promptly wiped the floor with the boys.

“Damn girl, how the hell did you even manage to avoid my shots?” A dark gray jackal huffed with surprise, handing the controller off to someone else who wanted a turn. Sivil was the only other person at the party that Bella had recognized, thanks to Alice giving him a heads up on where to meet them. 

“Ah, well your camping spot has a lot of blind spots I can hide in, you should really find a better place,” Bella laughed, tossing hers off to a raccoon who then thanked her.

“I see Bella’s at it again, huh?” A voice behind her made everyone look over. Alice leaned over the back of the couch the girls were on, grinning like a Cheshire cat. A round of nods made her laugh and high-five Bella before she stood up. “Have you guys even introduced yourselves?” When everyone exchanged looks with each other, she sighed. 

“I didn’t really give them a chance to, so it’s mostly my fault,” the wolf laughed to her friend. Standing in the center of the group, the mouse started to point off names to faces.

“The buck is Trace; he works at an outdoor supply store.” He nodded to the girls distractedly from the recliner in the corner, focusing on his phone. 

“Russian raccoon over there is Ajax. No one knows why we call him Russian,” she continued, and he gave a sort of wave before pulling his camo beanie down farther on his forehead. 

“You can call the red panda Asian, Rice, or James.” He looked over from the TV, giving a quick smile. 

“Wait… James? That’s not very… well, Asian…” Jazzie stammered. 

“We don’t ask about that, he gives us a different excuse every time,” Alice grumbled, “Anyway… We’ve got Trace, Ajax, James… Who’s left? Wait, where’s Lithus?” She looked around, trying to find him. 

“Grabbing a drink, that’s where,” a male voice announced, coming through the doorway from the kitchen. Into the room walked a snake, tail swaying. He was holding an open soda bottle in one hand, and various beers in the other. On the couch, all the guys raised their hands for their drinks, thanking Lithus when they got theirs. 

“Perfect, then I can introduce everyone now. Lithus is the weirdo of the group, don’t mind him.” At that, he puffed up and hissed a bit, which made her laugh. 

While they were opening their drinks, a rabbit came in from the back yard through the sliding glass doors. “Hey guys! What am I missing?” His top hat with steampunk goggles sat askew his head, and he straightened it.

“ _I thought the Mad Hatter was supposed to be the one with the top hat, not the white rabbit…_ ” Bella whispered to Jazzie, smiling playfully. 

“To be precise I’m a jackalope, not a rabbit, and you can call me Daniel,” he said matter-of-factly, having clearly heard what she’d said. He raised his hat to reveal a small set of prongs, similar to Trace’s except less heavy. Bella stood up and reached for them, ruffling her hand through his hair to find the base of the antlers. 

“Well then… I’ve never met a jackalope before,” she tilted her head to the side. Daniel smiled proudly, no doubt hearing that often before. A muffled cough gained her attention, and she looked over to Lithus, who seemed like he didn’t enjoy having the introductions cut short. 

“Right, right… Boys, this is Bella, she’s the cutest damn wolf you’ll ever meet. She draws, dances, and has to be the best kindergarten teacher around,” Alice grinned as Bella hid her face in her hands, knowing she didn’t like being praised. 

Jazzie smiled softly, introducing herself instead of letting Alice do the honors. “I’m Jazzie, uh… Yeah, you can call me Jazz, Jazzie, or… well, whatever you want, really.”

“And don’t be afraid to tell her to speak up, she’s super quiet,” Alice chuckled, making the horse blush underneath her freckles.

After that, it didn’t take long before everyone was laughing and playing around in games and with mysteriously-appearing decks of cards. Party-goers came and went, and it slowly dwindled down to the people who were in the living room. As it turned out, they were going to be spending the night because Sarah and her fiancé William had invited them to. By some miracle, Alice and the guys managed to convince Jazzie and Bella to join them.

Dinner was leftovers from the party – mostly chips, hotdogs, and sandwiches. Around midnight the couple went to bed, saying that the guests could grab pillows and blankets then spread around the house at their discretion... within reason, of course. 

Ajax and James promptly ran for the pile, hoarding a major portion of them for a pillow fort-style nest. Jazzie grabbed her own pillow, deciding to join in the tent. To Bella, it looked like when her D&D character decided what to do and everyone followed along, because soon the whole group had joined in the fun. The pile of pillows had shrunk down to three and the blankets left were the ones that couldn’t easily be draped across furniture because they were too heavy. 

Bella sighed, grabbed two pillows in one arm, and a blanket in the other. She dragged them to the doorway, said goodnight to the dogpile of people, and headed for the only room she was sure had a bed. Honestly she had a headache, and she’d eaten too much junk food, so she was burned out on excitement and fun for the day.

Rounding the corner of the hallway to the bedroom, she bumped the door open with her hip. Thankfully the bed had sheets on it, but Sarah hadn’t had time to put anything else on it because of the housewarming party. The pillows were tossed at the headboard and the blanket draped ungracefully over the mattress. There wasn’t anything special in the room yet, but it had a lamp on a table. Bella set her wallet down and took her contacts out, tossing them in the little garbage can beside the bed. 

From the living room she could hear someone laugh, then a loud bump as someone dropped down onto what she presumed was a pile of blankets… she hoped. Checking her phone, she saw that the time read 12:18 before she turned its display off and set it on the table as well. She thought about unclipping her bra and taking her shorts off, but considering there were so many people in one house she decided against it, instead choosing to loosen it a bit around her ribs. 

The bed was soft, and she felt happy to be out of her apartment for once. It was silly of her to stay cooped up so much, but after what had happened with Geo she didn’t really have much interest in outside activities… Her mind wandered, and she started to relax into daydreams – her usual method of putting herself to sleep. As she drifted slowly to sleep, Bella was glad she’d come to the party.


	6. Take a Chance, Take Some Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanging out with new people is great, but there's something about her friends that Bella prefers. After being a hermit for so long, her social skills are a little rusty. Alice tries to set her up with a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, I don't think Geo is such a heavy burden on Bella's mind like it had been the last 3-4 months. It's difficult to reconcile disappointment and heartbreak when you've got little experience with it, and I can see her growth. Hopefully you will, too~

“Do you mind if I join you? There are no other comfortable sleeping areas besides here.”

Bella jumped, sitting up and brushing the hair out of her eyes. She’d practically been asleep, and without her contacts in anymore it was hard to see, but she could see enough.  
Using the light of his cellphone to see, Lithus had nudged the door open a ways. His hoodie was down, but he still wore his black-gray knitted hat. Biting her lip uncomfortably, she was about to say no when she realized how rude that would be.

“Uh… Y-yeah, let me just shove my crap out of the way for you. Need to charge your cell? There’s a plugin right-“

“Just chill, don’t worry about me. You looked like you were about to fall asleep, so sit back down…Bella, right?” Lithus popped his shoes and socks off, checking his phone as he did so. Bella nodded quietly and rolled onto her stomach, hugging one of her pillows. She winced softly, hating the fact that she had to keep her bra on; it was one of her habits to take her bra off as soon as she could every day. She hated restrictive clothing, especially bras and jeans or jean shorts… Which she was wearing. Alice was going to get an earful for that later.

While she’d been mentally complaining, he’d stripped out of his hoodie and suddenly changed into a pair of pajama pants. Doing a double-take, she checked the corner of the room and discovered he’d stashed his backpack there earlier. Usually she brought one with her too, but the girls had ambushed her today. 

“Not afraid to change in front of complete strangers, I see,” she grumbled. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what a guy looked like, it just bugged her that she couldn’t relax until he was all settled in. He smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry,” Lithus said earnestly, “I didn’t mean to wake you up, it’s just I’ve got a migraine and those assholes out there are too loud.”

“Mm… Yeah…” Having mentioned migraines, she could feel hers again and groaned. Bella squeezed her eyes shut. The sound of a bottle rattling closely to her made her open them again, though, and she saw through hazy eyes that he had two white pills in his hand; she eyed them suspiciously, looking up into his blue eyes. 

“Relax, it’s Excedrin.” He held out a metal water bottle to her, and she reluctantly took it. They both gulped down some pain medicine, and he tossed the bottles onto his pile of crap. 

“Thanks…” Praying the Excedrin would kick in soon, she curled up against the wall. The bed was pushed into a corner, meaning Lithus had only one spot to go: the outside half. The young wolf blushed softly, realizing that she’d have to sleep beside him… She hadn’t done anything like that for nearly three months, innocently or otherwise. He slid under the blankets, procuring the last pillow that had been in the pile of bedding. The snake seemed intent on just going to sleep, but she turned over and gazed at him curiously.   
He had dark scales; most people would say they were black, but you could see specks of brown and tan in them where his neck and chest were showing. He had markings that were slightly greener than they were black, and a lot of the larger scales even had veins of moss green traveling through them. Bella didn’t know much about species, but whatever he was it was pretty. Unable to help herself, she reached over and stroked a finger down his jawline. 

Lithus’ eyes opened, blue shining in the murky dark. His hand took hers under the blanket, and he pushed his shirt up to let her feel his stomach, which was smoother; like a normal snake’s, there were larger and longer scales. She bit her lip, realizing that it was probably really weird that she was touching him without saying anything, but her hand continued exploring his scaled skin. He wasn’t quite cold, but compared to her fuzzy warmth he was cool to the touch, and the scales gently flexed when her hand pressed down against them. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” He mumbled quietly, smiling in a way she couldn’t quite interpret. She tried to pull her hand back but he softly laced his fingers between hers to hold it there. Compared to Bella’s hand, his was huge… She buried her face in the blankets shyly, huffing in response. Lithus let go, ruffling her hair. 

Rolling over, Bella again faced the wall. She dragged some of the blankets to her chest, nesting up inside them comfortably. As a yawn escaped her mouth, she felt a hand slide up her back, as if it was searching for something. She yipped with surprise, squirming deeply under the blankets and away from his hand.

“S-sorry… Alice told me you hate sleeping with your bra on, and to see if you were wearing it. I mean, if you don’t want help taking it off, then…” he trailed off. 

“Ah, no that’s totally fine with me, it just surprised me,” Bella wiggled her way back up, letting him unclip her bra for her. His hand ran down her back beside her spine, and she could feel his nails drag gently. 

“I feel that shiver, like your back scratched huh?” He laughed playfully; he almost sounded cocky. 

“Only when people I like do it,” she countered. His fingers ran back up towards her shoulder, digging in on the way back down. Bella let her breath escape with a hiss of slight discomfort, and she felt his scratching lighten up a bit. Lithus could feel her relax, but her bra was still under her shirt.

“You going to take your bra off, or do I have to work around the damn thing?”

“I… uh, sorry…” It was slid off from under her shirt and tossed over him to the floor. She rolled back onto her side to face the wall, but Lithus sat up and grabbed her hips. “Wha-? Oof,” Bella gasped, having gotten dragged to the center of the bed and flipped onto her stomach. Her shirt was shoved up, and heavy weight plopped onto her thighs; his hands began to work at the knots in her back. 

“Ladies deserve to be treated well, don’t you think?” Aside from the fact that it was slightly odd to have a near-stranger massaging her bare skin on day one, Bella couldn’t do much but moan an agreement. She knew it was Alice’s fault, since Alice was the only one who knew that her back was a weakness to get her to relax. 

“I’m going to kill Alice when- o-o-o-oh…” She slid her shirt off all the way when it got in the way of him kneading at her shoulders.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear you over the sound of you creaming yourself, dear,” he laughed. A growl was quickly quelled by rubbing at her neck. 

“How do you – nhh, do that?” Bella’s eyes were practically crossed.

“I’m not doing anything special, you’re just fucking uptight. When was the last time you had someone work at these knots? There’s next to no normal muscle here.”

“Erm… Months. It’s safe to say it’s been at least three.” She sighed, realizing who’d done anything to her last. Lithus’ hands slowed, and one reached up to her hair and brushed through it gently.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I know you had some shit go down, Alice said to not weird you out too much. If you want to talk about it I’m here, but it seems like you’re the type who doesn’t feel better after talking. How about cuddles instead?” His voice sounded understanding, almost empathetic. 

“That would be really nice, actually. Thanks.” When she squirmed, he moved off of her legs, and she tossed her shirt back on. Bella curled up on her side, keeping her arm lifted so his could wrap down over her waist. With a little nuzzle to her neck, Lithus pulled her close to his chest and his other arm slid under her head. She fidgeted with the pillows to get comfortable, smiling. 

His breath tickled against her fur, and she shivered slightly. Lithus’ thumb rubbed gently against her, and she felt her cheeks flush slightly because he was so gentle that it felt… nice. Not just his touch, but that was pleasant too; the fact that someone who didn’t know her and her past was willing to just spend time with her and comfort her through real or imagined anxieties was precious to her. Bella turned slightly, looking at him. His eyes were half open; he was probably curious as to why she’d moved.

“Lithus, I –“

“Shh.” He leaned in, kissing her fiercely. Her eyes flew open, but after a moment they closed and she responded to him by kissing back. His aggressiveness during kissing was a surprise to her, and it took the woman’s breath away. After a minute he finally let her have her lips back, and she was honestly breathing heavily. Lithus stole a few more quick nibbles before he nuzzled against her again. 

“…Holy shit.” Bella’s hand effectively pushed his hat off, raking through his black hair. She couldn’t explain why she was suddenly feeling so pushy, but she knew it was his fault. 

“The hell was that for, huh?” Although her breathing was still erratic, she tried huffing as if she wasn’t affected. He smirked.

“Because you’re beautiful, and I felt like it.”

“…Excuse you?” 

“There’s no excuse for me, but thank you anyway.”

“Hmph.”

Bella settled back in, eyeing him suspiciously for the second time in one night. When his breathing calmed and turned to sleeping, she buried her face in his hair. He’d fallen asleep with his head effectively on her chest, arm still wrapped around her from earlier. Curled up together, the woman slept better than she had in months… And little did she know, but so did he. 

~~~

When morning came, Bella found herself alone in bed with the smell of food wafting into the guest room. She heard mumbled laughs and quiet voices, with a few male ones being more raucous than the others.

“Those are my pancakes, you asshole!”

“Excuse you, he handed them towards me. Get out of here.”

Rolling her eyes, Bella got up and put her bra on. She hadn’t brought a hair or tooth brush, so she grimaced at the thought of going out. The house was warm, and it was progressively so as she went towards the kitchen – which made sense, because the oven was on, she discovered. There was an empty carton of eggs on the counter with eggshells laid around, multiple pans on the stove with eggs, bacon, and pancakes in each, and 4 slices of toast heating.

“Okay, this has to be the most breakfast food I’ve ever seen… ever.” She sat down at the kitchen’s island in a chair that wasn’t taken up, surprisingly underwhelmed with the scene. She poured a glass of orange juice, sipping quietly.

“Yeah… The nerd herd gets hungry sometimes.” Ajax flipped pancakes, checking on the scrambled eggs and something in a different pan. 

Daniel walked in with a blanket wrapped around him, Jazzie following behind with a huge hoodie on that Bella recognized as Lithus’. Bella raised an eyebrow at that, not expecting Lithus to be sharing his clothes so soon after meeting her. Sarah and William were sitting in the corner on the bench half of the table with mugs of coffee, Lithus next to Will laughing louder now that everyone was awake. He winked at Bella, to which she huffed and looked over at the living room.

A black-gray-furred canine sat at the couch playing something on the TV, with Alice next to him. Squinting because she hadn’t put her contacts in, Bella realized it was her jackal friend, Sivil. With a smile, she knew he’d be playing a racing game – his major passion. 

“Is my toast or bacon done yet?” James’ face popped into the room, looking towards Ajax, who seemed to be the designated cook for the morning.

“Sit down, you’ll get your food in a minute dude.”

“Alright, sorry,” he said before disappearing again.

“Impatient…” Bella chuckled. He grunted in response, nodding.

Doing a quick headcount, she realized that not everyone was there from the party and sleepover last night. The deer… ‘What was his name?’ She thought for a moment before remembering – Trace. He was nowhere to be seen, so she opened her mouth to ask the group.

“Toss me the syrup, will you Ajax? My pancakes need more.” Twirling around in her seat, she saw Trace walk into the kitchen with a giant half-eaten stack of pancakes with butter smeared over them. 

“I’m going back to bed, there’s too many people,” Bella muttered. Gulping the rest of her glass, she stood and went to go wash it out. When she saw how much food was on the stove, she changed her mind and rummaged for a second spatula, sighing, “You’re working too hard over here, let me give you some help. I’ll do the rest of the pancake batter, those eggs look done…”

Ajax almost shooed her out, but instead shrugged and let her stay. She flipped a few pancakes out onto a plate, and he scooped eggs and bacon next to them. The plate was slid onto the island, and thus they repeated that process until the food was done. By the time they got to the last two plates, everyone was nearly done eating, so they piled theirs high with the leftover bits and sat down at the table on the chair half – opposite of William, Sarah, and Lithus.

Bella observed the three of them as they joked around, trying not to inhale her food as she did so. William was tall, which would make sense for him being an ostrich. He dwarfed his fiancée by comparison; Sarah was a small hummingbird, who seemed tiny compared to him. Ajax leaned in and murmured to her.

“Y’know, Lithus and Big Bird are related… no one can keep it straight though.”

“We’re cousins, ya dumbass,” Lithus hissed goofily, causing Bella to jump. “Technically third cousins…” He continued trying to explain how they were related, but between grandpas and uncles’ brothers, Bella couldn’t figure it out. With how he tried to tell her, he needed a diagram.

“It’s too early in the morn- afternoon, for this…” She shook her head with a half-hearted smile, taking her dish and Sarah’s empty mug to the sink. Sarah smiled appreciatively, going back to snuggling Will.

Bella meandered through the doorway to the living room, nestling down against Sivil, who was still racing and arguing with Alice about the best car and tracks in the game. She threw her legs over the top of his lap and wrapped an arm across his waist, bored of socializing. He was in a loading screen, so he ruffled her hair and smiled.

In the kitchen, Lithus and Ajax looked at the couch with curiosity, not realizing Bella and Sivil were nearly siblings. They shared looks for a moment. Alice caught a glance at them, and laughed.

“Guys, these two have been friends since middle school, this is normal for them.” Their faces had matching looks of understanding, and Ajax nodded. Lithus pulled out his phone and started texting.

“I summon Bullshit in attack mode!” Daniel’s voice shouted from the table in the corner of the living room, where he and Jazzie were playing YuGiOh. Jazzie laughed quietly, and he went back to playing seriously. Bella’s head stretched up to check out the two of them, and she decided to hop up and stand by them. 

“Who’s winning?” She tilted her head.

“She is, unfortunately… I let her use my stronger deck,” Daniel said matter-of-factly. Jazzie beamed happily.

“Well, if you place this card, then do that…” Bella reached to the cards in his hand, pointing out things he could do. He nodded, realizing she was right. On his next turn, he placed a few cards and managed to make the winning moves. 

“Good game, good game,” he acknowledged. Jazzie nodded back, reshuffling the deck she’d used.

“Hey guys, I think I’m gonna go… The husband can’t be by himself too long or he forgets how to cook,” Alice laughed, grabbing her purse. Jazzie jumped up and found her things, obviously getting a ride home with her. They looked at Bella, but she shook her head and threw her thumb in the direction of the distracted Sivil – with that, they waved goodbye to the group and took off.

The woman sat down at the table next to the young jackalope, looking through his decks. She wished she’d brought her own decks, because as she looked more intently she realized he’d brought his Magic decks as well. 

“We’ll need to play some time, I think you’d like my Green-White token spawning deck I have,” she smiled. 

“I’d like that, nearly everyone here’s got Magic. By how you knew what to do earlier I guess you also play YuGiOh?” He asked, appreciating the nerd talk.

“Well of course – doesn’t everyone?”

“Uh… So far, it’s just James, you, and me, but I think Lithus and Big Bird want to learn too.” He frowned a bit, with a ‘But what can you do?’ look. She nodded, returning it. 

“So how do you guys know Sivil? He’s never mentioned anyone here,” Bella questioned, genuinely curious. She’d known Sivil a long time, but all he ever talked about was work.

“Through Alice, actually. He’s hung out once or twice, but I don’t think we’re all very close, sort of like you and Jazzie,” he explained. 

Bella nodded, figuring that was the case. Alice brought a lot of people together like that. She smiled at Daniel before standing up, going to the kitchen to grab something more to drink. Trace kept popping in and out, finally deciding to sit on the couch with Sivil to race. Because Daniel and Bella had been talking cards, Lithus, Ajax, and Will had grabbed their decks and binders to work on personal projects – she stopped beside the table with some coffee in hand, watching as everyone worked on something or helped each other out. The noise lured Daniel over, and he pestered the group to duel.

“C’mon dude, you ask them all the time… Give ‘em a break,” Trace called out, before shouting happily after winning a race. 

“Actually, I think I want to go home…” Bella grabbed her phone, about to ask Alice if she could grab her since she was .01% sure she could get home on her own. She got about two words into the text before three or four voices piped up, offering a ride. “Uh…” she idled.

“Okay, we can’t all give her a freakin’ ride… Does anyone even know where she lives?” Ajax sighed, shuffling a deck of Magic cards. Everyone looked at each other blankly, shifting uncomfortably.

“Well, no… But…” Daniel said awkwardly, “We could totally use a GPS, it’s not that hard.”

“Pfff… Guys, you forget that I’ve known Bella since, like, forever.” From across the room, Sivil held a wireless controller in his hand as he leaned against the doorway. His black-gray ears tipped forward as he looked on with an eyebrow raised. 

“Mkay, that works. Doesn’t matter how she gets home as long as she can get there.” Will’s cards snapped as he shuffled them down against the table. With that, the guys went back to goofing about.

“Thanks Sivil, I didn’t know if you wanted to hang around longer…”

“Eh, I was just playing Xbox until something interesting happened, it’s no biggie to me,” he ruffled her hair again, grinning impishly. She huffed, smiling back. Her small pile of things were still on the bedside table so she ran to grab them, but realized she’d left her cellphone on the table while she’d grabbed her wallet. 

“Has anyone seen my -…” She paused suddenly as her cell was plopped into her hand by Lithus, “…Err, okay…”

“You seem pretty forgetful, there.”

“E-excuse me?” Bella stood up straighter, wrinkling her nose up and flicking her ears back. He just smiled and sat back down at the table to continue a 4-person card game.

“Don’t worry about it, Lithus is a dick sometimes,” James said, looking up from his laptop. He had a headset on, and she was surprised he’d heard anything that’d transpired at all. She nodded vaguely, still unsure of what had just happened.

“Ready, girlie?”

She turned around to see Sivil with a motorcycle under each arm. Her tail perked up, and she practically bounced over. The smaller, light blue-silver helmet was his backup for her. “Yes! But do you have the jacket and chaps? I don’t have mine on me… Obviously…” Bella looked down at her t-shirt and short-shorts. She was clearly not dressed for a motorcycle trip.

“Only the chaps, but you can do without the jacket for a day,” he chuckled. 

“Dude, that’s awesome. Can I see your helmet?” Ajax perked up, leaning out from behind Daniel at the table to look at Sivil. 

“Sure thing, catch,” laughed the jackal hybrid. He tossed the helmet over-arm like a basketball; Ajax caught it, examining it. He grunted appreciatively, checking the moving parts and the padding inside.

“Sweet shit,” he noted. They nodded to each other knowingly before it was tossed back to the owner. 

“Okay boys, I really need to head back now, I’ll have work-mandated training later this week so I have to get ready,” Bella sighed, heading towards the front door as she popped her helmet on. The guys chorused out their goodbyes, and with that they exited out to the lawn. He brought the 1995 Yamaha V-Max out front, grabbing the chaps for her as he suited himself up. 

“I really wish I could get more rides from you, but with that lead foot of yours it scares me shitless…” She muttered half-seriously. He shrugged unapologetically; she knew he was a racer on the side, it was a flaw he was willing to deal with. With chaps and helmet secured, she hopped on behind the young man. 

“Alrighty, ready back there?” With his visor raised, Sivil glanced over his shoulder.

“I was born ready, shall we ride into the sunset my prince?” The wolf snickered at her friend, wrapping her arms around his waist. Without further discussion, he revved the bike and blasted forward – obviously showing off for the nerd herd inside the house. 

Bella rolled her eyes, but she was honestly having too much fun to care. What’s a better cure for depression than a sexy motorcycle under you, taking you away from your worries at 70 MPH? She couldn’t think of one, and probably never would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of the people at the house party are based on real people I went to college with. I think this was the real first time I'd tried to flush out a universe with characters - it isn't a bad attempt, definitely had a learning curve lol.


	7. Behind Door One...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A power outage helps Bella and Sivil find themselves.

June was a busy month for Bella. Between the classes, seminars, and training she had, there was little time for rest. Any open days were spent with Sivil, Alice, and Jazzie. With their help, she went from being quiet and withdrawn to outspoken and boisterous – her original, normal self… when she needed to she could be serious, though; one day they’d been out at a park for lunch and suddenly someone had started yelling for help. A child had been dragged out of the river across the field, and wasn’t breathing. 

The parents and onlookers were calling 911 already, but people were standing around without a clue what to do. She’d jogged over, shouting that she knew CPR – that if there was any way to get an AED, they should do so. Bella had begun on chest compressions right away, and by the time the ambulance arrived she’d kept the child stable enough for the prognosis to be optimistic of recovery. 

Once the dust settled, everyone had had a realization about how precious life was to them; Bella, especially, had her eyes opened. It’d been the first time she’d saved a life, and it shook her slightly. No one had known what to do after the ambulance left and the crowd scattered, so they’d gone home to Bella’s place for quiet time.

She’d felt more spontaneous after that, deciding to move from a small studio into a one-bedroom at the same complex – new beginnings, and all that. July found her in a similar mood… Although slightly less perky. The only thing she’d noticed was that after the house party she’d gone to, her phone had mysteriously gained many new contacts… Not many of them went out of their way to talk to her, but she kept them just in case. Ajax and Trace had helped Sivil with the heavy furniture when she’d moved late June, which she’d actually enjoyed a lot. 

Jazzie texted Bella constantly and slowly visited more often without the other friends. They spent time watching movies, cooking together and eating on the porch area she now had, and doing generally sisterly activities. Bella wasn't very used to the attention, but it was a nice change from the boisterous activities for the past few months. Apparently Jazzie's family was getting too hectic for her, as all five of her little siblings constantly wanted to play or go out to their sports or friend's places.

As they spent more time together, Jazzie shyly mentioned that she came over so much because her parents were uncomfortable with her lifestyle choices; she had a crush on one of the other girls in her summer classes on campus, and they'd tentatively been getting closer. From then on Bella became closer and more supportive, giving the younger woman the confidence she needed for explaining the situation to her parents. They weren't sure how to handle it, but they weren't mad at her for being honest with her emotions – to herself and to her parents.

The rest of July and August passed in the blink of an eye; Bella was ready for the start of the school year, to see her new students. When it was about a week away from Labor Day, she went and got stocked up on her materials for the new classes she'd be having at the preschool.

~~~

Halfway through the grocery part of her outing, Bella had to check her phone because it was vibrating nonstop. The source of the uproar was the barrage of texts she was receiving from Alice and Lithus, all bunched up because she finally reached a spot in the store with service. With a sigh, she read the spam of texts.

[LH] _BElla come 2 Alices place rn_  
[AB] _Come over soon, we're having a party tonight. Starts at like 3 but we've got people here already._  
[LH] _you there?_  
[LH] _Hello? Did I get the wrong number?? Itss Lithus_

Not knowing how to reply, she sent the same message to Alice and Lithus, letting them know she was shopping and she'd be there after finishing and going home first. While slightly annoyed at the fact that they didn't give her a few days' notice, she was going because her friends were there.

Tossing on something comfortable with her hair in a ponytail, she headed over to Alice's house. She and Kyle lived in a duplex, shared with Sivil. They'd all paired together and found a really nice place that fit the budget, so that they could hang out together as a group easier.

~~~

The party had been nice enough, full of people Bella knew from past meetings. However, she was glad when it was just her and Sivil later that evening.

From her room, Bella rummaged through her travel bag of clothing – half of which was already thrown around on the chair in the corner of the room that she'd set her bag down at. In the largest compartment, her hand blindly felt around; damn the dark, if only her phone wasn't dead or she'd use it to search. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out which articles of clothing were dirty and therefore useless to her.

She really wasn't sure why she'd brought it with her, but once she found it she yanked it out by the strap; in her hands was a small, silky lingerie dress. It was black with hot pink polka dots on it, a strip of ribbon with a bow showing off how high the bottom's lace was. She sighed, afraid that her chest wouldn't fit in the cups. It'd been about a year since she'd even tried it on, and she'd never even done anything in it. Ironically, Sivil had been the one she'd texted pictures to the evening she'd come home with her bounty of lace underclothes... although he probably didn't remember it, being that it was so long ago.

One last time she checked to make sure her Ace bandage was holding before reaching her arms through, shimmying it over her shoulders, and popping her head out between the spaghetti straps. Sure enough, her breasts fit in the skimpy cups still. It was really quite a miracle. Knowing her body, she'd be the one to grow too large to fit into anything cute that she liked. Down the hall she vaguely heard Sivil walk across the carpet between the bathroom and his room, gently tapping the door up against the frame.

Working up the courage, Bella reached her hand out in front of her to find her way across the guest room. It was pitch black, and her glasses were still in his room from when they'd been in there earlier before the party.

One bumped elbow and half her bravery later, she made it to the bathroom. On the counter was a small candle that she lit, after he'd blown it a few minutes ago. Unsure of what to say, she hesitated. The bathroom door was parallel to Sivil's room, so she shyly poked her head around the door frame.

"I, uh... think I will try brushing my teeth, after all..." He looked up from his phone, which he'd luckily had charged up before the storm hit. The woman could hardly see the dark-furred man's nod in response. Hmph, he was too calm... He wasn't even curious enough to look up from his lit screen.

True to her word, Bella brushed her teeth using the bottle of water she'd found on her bedside table and had had the foresight to bring with her to the sink. It really wasn't so different from when she was at the hospital, minus the extra cups the nurses gave her when stuck in bed. She had a moment of frivolous pride for her ability to brush her teeth without use of a sink, before realizing how silly it was. Oops, sorry not sorry.

Having nothing else to do in the bathroom, she turned the light out. But instead of heading back down the hallway to her room, Bella nudged the door open across the hall; the jackal mix looked up from his phone, FML stories loaded on his screen as usual.

"You should try and save your battery, you know..." Her voice was gentle, unlike her usual contrary tone used in public with him. Sivil shrugged, turning the screen off so that he could put it on the table under the currently useless lamp. After a moment of silence, she added, "I, uh... may I? It sort of freaks me out to have the power out when it's not light out..."

"Mhmm, come on in," his voice was tired from all the activity from the afternoon and evening, but he still sounded welcoming and pleasant. She had to admit to herself that his voice was attractive when he was sleepy; it got lower and slightly rougher. Unsure of how he'd react to the dress she was wearing, her hand unconsciously tugged at the hem. It barely covered her ass, really...

The window shades were open enough to show that he'd opened his windows to keep his room cool, and the moonlight of the blue moon poured in onto the bottom of his bed. Bella's eyesight in the dark was poor, but for the most part she could see he was only halfway under his blankets – he'd folded them back for her. She didn't think he'd noticed her nightclothes yet, given that his eyes were still constricted from the bright phone screen he'd been staring at.

"You... oh, well then," his voice murmured, sounding much more hushed and surprised once her knee slid up onto the bed. Even with his eyes adjusting he'd apparently been able to see how much of a contrast the mostly dark dress had against her tan-gold fur on her upper thigh. It was hard to tell even for her, but the longer she kept her eyes half-closed the easier it was to see once she glanced around.

The wolf quickly slid under the blankets, cheeks flaming. She hadn't expected to stay over, so her packing earlier had been hasty; in her rush to find clean nightwear, all she'd been able to find was the small dress. She sighed audibly, uncomfortably nuzzling her head into the pillow he'd slid over to her side.

A moment later, one of Sivil's hands slid up her waist, searching for the middle of her stomach. Silently she was pulled up against his chest to be cuddled, his chin above her head on the back corner of her pillow. Bella held her breath, unsure of what to do. They'd cuddled before – even fallen asleep next to each other sometimes, but always platonically, and never with such revealing clothing in the mix.

"It's soft..." The man's voice was husky with sleep, and his hand rubbed her side happily.

"That's what I originally noticed about it, but I didn't try it on until I got home. Thought it was longer when it was on the hanger," she said. What she'd liked most was how cute the black and pink was, but the soft texture had been what ultimately tempted her into getting it. His hand had continued to pet her side while she'd been talking, but when it caught on the bottom hem of the dress it stopped. Having direct contact against her fur, so close to her underwear, his actions seemed cautious and unsure.

"It's... soft and short."

"Y-yeah, it really is." Even though he couldn't see her face in their spooning position, she squeezed her eyes shut when she felt the blush return.

After a moment of hesitated silence, his hand ran down her thigh towards the outside of her knee. Bella felt relief that she'd found acceptable underwear to put underneath the dress – but, wait... why was that so important? He'd obviously keep it PG, he always did. What was with that hesitation, though?

The dark-furred man pressed against her a bit closer, the heat at his hips revealing the fact that he'd realized exactly what type of gown she was wearing. With a burst of courage, she twisted around slowly to face him.

"You alright?" Sivil's voice betrayed concern for her health, knowing she wasn't quite done healing after helping her change her bandaging earlier before the storm had rolled in. She nodded, and he released the breath he'd held. In the dim light of the waning moon, his eyes peered into hers. Acting on instinct, she reached up to his shoulder and pressed against it, nudging him onto his back. In the process, her chest leaned down and pressed against his, nearly spilling out of the lacy cups. His hand reached up, a finger brushing across the bared top of her breast.

Without a word, she slid her leg over top of him, settling down comfortably onto his lap. The wolf found his hands, guiding them to her hips as she rested her hands on the bed so that she could lean forward and smirk playfully at him. Fingers exploring tentatively, his breath hitched and his partial erection nudged upwards against her lower stomach, growing harder and twitching unexpectedly.

"Ooh, I like this," he smiled, hands reaching up to her shoulders. His nails scratched tenderly, and her shoulders folded so that she was nearly laying on top of him. With her neck beside his lips Sivil nibbled at her collarbone, causing her to squeal with surprise and shoot back up.

"Unfair! That's s-so not fair..." Her hand curled up and covered her mouth and nose protectively, unsure of how to respond. From down below came a chuckle, and he gently pulled her close for a kiss. It was tender, with a heated passion that can only come from built up sexual tension. Caught off guard, all Bella could do was return the kiss, surprised at how passionately he pressed up into her. When she finally pulled back for a full breath of air, he smiled languidly up at her.

"Unfair? Says the girl who came into my room wearing the sexiest thing I've ever seen on her. I've got to be the luckiest son of a bitch in the world right now," he said, hands finding her hips again as he began to grind up against her.

Having nudged against her clit, he elicited a moan from the woman. She leaned forward onto her elbows, hands sliding under his pillow to keep her balanced. Finding a comfortable position that'd allow him to tease her easier, her hips rolled side to side to get him between her lips through the thin panties she was wearing. Sivil's hands felt along the edges then settled for gently grabbing her ass.

"Aw, poor girl you're cold... And you're wearing lacy underwear, too?" His voice held surprise and amusement while he rubbed her hips gently. Her tail swayed with the movement of her hips, a groan escaping her mouth. Half the time she could hardly tell exactly what he was doing or what was going on around her; time seemed to flow oddly, fluxing with each new sensation.

Bella sat up finally, hands sliding down his bare chest and coming to a rest on his lower stomach. They both knew the wet spot on his pants was partially to be blamed on him, which became more evident after she teased at his tip with a finger. The material between the two of them twitched and got damper as she lightly played with his length.

Finally she realized that she should stop, unsure of how late it was. "Hey, what time is it? I don't want to keep you up all night..." Although with how bright-eyed they both were after that, she'd be surprised if they didn't pull an all-nighter.

"Mm, only midnight I'd say, but let me check." She braced herself for the bright cellphone screen as he pushed the power button; the screen showed exactly 12:01 and he made a self-satisfied grunt at how close he'd guessed. Deciding that was late enough for the night, she eased off of him and slid her leg over his waist so that she could nestle down beside him. "Aw... no more?" His breath ruffled the fur next to her ear, making her shiver.

"It's getting late, you need to be up early tomorrow morning," Bella said. Instead of rolling over and getting to sleep, Sivil leaned over top of her. To both avoid him and tease him, she stretched out and pressed her chest down into the bed.

"I'm usually up later than this anyway, don't worry about it," he grumbled, simultaneously sliding a hand down between her twisted legs. He wasn't searching for anything in general; it seemed like he was just interested in teasing her back a bit. The young wolf bit her lip and angled her hips so that he could rub against her easier, but instead he slid her panties down to almost her knees. "You're not off the hook so easily, young lady," Sivil laughed playfully.

"B-but-" her words were cut off as a finger eased gently between her lips, sliding past her slit and forward towards her clit. Since he was sitting behind her, he'd simply gone from behind instead of reaching all the way around to feel from the front. Her hips twitched, rocking happily as he brushed back down.

"Nnn, tasty..." his voice trailed off, after obviously having had a taste of her wetness that'd stayed on his finger. Leaning her shoulder back, she looked up at him shyly as he slid out of his pajama bottoms. When she'd fondled him earlier she'd known he wasn't wearing any boxers, but with him fully exposed she felt her eyes and fingers drawn to his cock. She was able to gently grasp him and tease for a moment, but he leaned back down and slid his tip between her legs, twitching up between them.

A few slow thrusts earned a sticky bead of precum on his tip, which she caught with a fingertip and tasted. She got impatient, sitting forward and shimmying out of the dress she wore. His hands slid up to her breast, cupping and squeezing her with slight pressure.

Sivil leaned forward, lips finding the nearest nipple. He was gentle enough that she could only feel how her nerves were tingling down her spine – his tongue and lips were too soft to feel, although she could see well enough in the darkness that he was working at the nipple carefully. Her hips bucked with each sensitive spot he played with, until he let her have a moment's rest.

Gasping, every few exhalations of hers turned into small mews of pleasure. Looking up at the man, the female wolf could vaguely feel how her body felt like it was on fire with the warmth their bodies had managed to generate in the short amount of time. He flipped her hips so that she was on her back, then grabbed his pillow and set it in front of where he was kneeling in front of her. With a soft grip, he levered her up onto it and slid between her legs so that he could lean forward.

"Hey..." his voice was low and small, nose and lips brushing against her forehead, "I love you." She looked up at him for a moment, a smile spreading on her face.

"I love you too, you should know that by now silly."

"Yeah, I know." He smiled back tenderly, guiding the tip of his member so that it slid into her slightly. He braced his hands on the bed on either side of her, and she ran her hands along his arms as she looked to his chest and hips arched down between them. The dark-furred jackal paused, finding her knees and raising them so they rested on either of his shoulders. She gripped the blanket below her, feeling his cock press deeper into her a ways. Pulling back, the next slow thrust hilted himself inside her depths. It felt wonderful; she was comfortably full, but it didn't hurt.

"F-fuck.." Sivil gasped under his breath, quivering as he twitched deep inside her warm folds, "I've -aah- never actually done it raw before, wow..." His eyes squeezed shut, and he slowly began to thrust into her. One of her knees slid down past his shoulder, towards his elbow.

Repositioning, his hips moved far enough away that he slid out completely; Bella sat up, reaching for his length as she stole a kiss. She took a moment to nibble and kiss before reaching up and shoving him softly onto his back, regaining her original position on top cowgirl style. Instead of propping herself on her hands or elbows, she laid against him with her arms wrapped back behind his head. Without reaching back and guiding him to her entrance, she closed her eyes and pressed her hips back down over his cock, easing him back in blindly. His arms slid around her waist, holding her close as their hips met; grinding against each other, their thrusts messily found a rhythm as she worked herself into a wet mess on top of him.

When she sat back up to stretch and tease him with a view, he cursed under his breath again and gripped her ass, guiding her into more involved grinding. They were both pent up and in need of a good fuck, which worked well because they both had shamefully amazing stamina.

After knowing each other for so long, they both knew that without having to tell each other; instinctively they found each other's sensitive spots and mercilessly nibbled each other in turns, while Bella got increasingly wet against his hips.

"Hey hun, are you wet enough to... Ah..." He trailed off, unsure of how to word his request. She slowly lifted up, revealing a sticky member as she sat straddled across him with a questioning expression on her face. "Here..."

The young man flipped her around, having her lean down onto her elbows as he helped prop her hips up with a pillow. Entering from behind, he leaned forward and bit her shoulder lightly, groaning from the pleasure.

"Please, Siv... Faster," her voice trembled, unable to help herself as she collapsed forward happily when he complied. The pillow was a definite help, now that she was trembling from all the work she'd done.

The jackal cupped his hands around her hips, fingertips digging into her fur to pull her backwards onto his dick with every penetrating plunge he made. Her sticky lips sucked at his knot, inviting him to bury himself inside and tie with her warm depths. Down below, a poor, tired pup took every connection of their bodies – excited to be worn out so thoroughly before she’d managed to finish. 

“You want me to knot you, huh? I know you’re dirty like that,” he growled into her ear from behind. Sivil could feel her pussy grow wetter, her ass bouncing harder on his cock as if to encourage him. 

“I really – ah! Shouldn’t have to answer that by now, Siv,” Bella’s pierced tongue lolled out, panting so hard she could feel herself dehydrating. By the time they were done, they’d both need a glass of water to recover. 

“Mm, so be it then,” was all he said as he pounded his hips against her ass one last time, surprised his knot didn’t make an audible popping noise as it slipped into her moist folds. He could still grind in and out by an inch, pulling her lips open slightly as his knot tugged at her narrow opening with each backward motion. Each breath escaping the knotted wolf was high-pitched and raspy, full of impending climax. Sivil sat back on his haunches, dragging her hips with him as he went. With the smaller woman grinding down on top of him, every upward push sent his tip to the very limit of her pussy; within moments Bella’s head leaned back on his shoulder, gasping for air in what he could only guess was the start of her - 

“Sivil, I’m -” she couldn’t finish her sentence, but the grip on his buried shaft told him everything he needed to know. Multiple shock waves rolled through her, causing her muscles to clench repeatedly around his hot knot. Her hand snaked its way into the long fur at the nape of his neck, bringing him down against the base of her neck. His lips parted, sharp canines pressing down into the short fur and sensitive skin, eliciting a deep-chested growl of pleasure from her. Sivil’s knot swelled imperceptibly, stretching the walls of her pussy to their limits. He grunted with effort, finally allowing himself to release his seed within her. The smaller wolf gasped, feeling his cock twitch and empty itself. 

“Alright you, we’ll be here a moment so let me help you,” the dark-furred man said from behind. His arms slid around her waist, clearing the mess of blankets and pillows enough for her to ease down into a little-spoon position. Sivil buried his long snout into her mess of hair, taking steadying breaths filled with her scent. Even after his knot relaxed its grip on her insides, he allowed himself to stay inside her, grinding now and again just to tease her. With Bella’s pussy wrapped around his member, it stayed nearly hard even after their energetic evening together. 

“So, how did I compare to all your other trysts?” She swiveled around, once he finally detached himself from her. Sivil squirmed under her gaze, avoiding eye contact. 

“Ah, about that...” He paused, “You’re actually my first, I’ve never had anyone else.”

“But you said -” 

“I lied. I’ve always faltered before you, Bella. You always seemed so at ease with sex and everything, I didn’t know how to admit I’d never done anything before. Even tonight, I had to keep from blowing too early because you were just so great; I’m lucky I was nervous, it helped me hold off...”

“Sivil, you never needed to pretend around me...” She didn’t know what else to say, so she rolled onto her back and hugged him down to her chest. Her best friend gripped her waist, ashamed he’d held the truth back from her for so long. Eventually the young man started to doze, and Bella let him stay there. He’d given her a lot to digest, which kept her up a little longer than him. Before long she, too, began to slip under the fog of exhaustion.

“Bella?”

“Hmm?” She groggily cracked an eye open.

“I’ve got a race in Florida soon, my sponsors gave me some tickets for friends and family to come watch. Join me?” He was nervous, hoping the night hadn’t been ruined by his sudden admission. 

“As long as I can get away from my classwork, sure. Get some sleep though, you work tomorrow morning.” She felt him nod slightly… Or, was that him snuggling in? Bella smiled and settled in. At this exact moment, a beep in the kitchen heralded the electricity turning back on. “Son of a -!” It seemed they just couldn’t win that night, but both were too tired to care.


	8. Rainy Day Vaycay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sivil invites Bella to join him in Florida for a motorcycle race he's participating in. Bella and Sivil explore each other in a hotel shower during a rainstorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sivil was originally meant to be Bella's perfect match...

“Alice, I’m only going to be gone a week, don’t worry. I made sure my boss knew I’m leaving, so I won’t have any extra training, and that’s the only thing that was worrying me.” Bella scrunched her shoulder up to the side of her head so her phone was brought up to her flattened ear. She was folding clothes to take with her to Florida, where Sivil was racing. 

“And Florida is where that no-good man whore lives, pardon me for being worried.” Alice’s voice was snappy, but the wolf knew it was because her best friend worried about her. 

“Don’t worry, he lived in Tampa and this is on the other side of the state.” She rolled up some underwear and shoved them into her small duffel bag. Bella traveled lighter than most.

“I’m just saying, your life is like a shitty Lifetime movie,” the phone picked up static, which was probably her sighing into the microphone. 

“Are you sure you can’t come with me? If you saw Geo you could punch him,” the woman smiled, imagining her short friend trying to sock the tall fox. 

“Can’t, you know how my boss is, and my man wants to take me to that new art gallery.”

“Yeah yeah, you and your perfect man can go suck it. Bike racing is way cooler.”

“I know, but you don’t understand; I got the puppy eyes, Bella. Puppy eyes. From a fluffy German Shepherd boy. Don’t you know how weak I am for those eyes?” She did, in fact, know. They’d gone to the same college, and back then she wasn’t married yet. The wolf had seen their romance blossom, and his puppy eyes had melted her just as quickly back then… Yucko. 

“Hey, did you see the meme Ajax posted in group chat? It was the trumpet skeleton one,” Bella changed the topic, distracting her friend from more mushy talk. 

“Yes, it’s not even September I hate all of you. Now I have the ‘doot doot’ song stuck in my head.”

“Umm, it’s Thank Mr. Skeltal, and you’re welcome. Happy Halloween!” A faint laugh across the line told her Alice’s husband could hear her. “Anyway I have to go, my flight is in 6 hours and I’m not even close to being done packing thanks to you distracting me.”

“Pffthhhht, you love me. Bye bitch,” Alice blew a raspberry and hung up. 

~~~ 

All of Bella’s flights went by uneventfully, though the trip itself was nearly 15 hours. She’d brought a book with her, and planned on buying one in Florida to read on the trip back. When she turned airplane mode off on her phone, a text message was waiting for her from Sivil letting her know where he was waiting at. He’d been in Palm Beach for about a week already, alternating between watching other events and training for his races. 

The brunette wolf scanned the crowds of families and friends reuniting, in search of her friend. His tall jackal ears stood out among a crowd of people walking her direction. She raised her arm and waved to catch his attention, weaving around a couple kissing. Sivil embraced her as they met – she was happy to see him and clung to him tightly for a moment. He smelled like home… Oregon was so far away, and even with her interest in traveling it was a bit scary being on the opposite end of the country. The trees were all wrong, there were no mountains holding the sky up, and yet the smell of salt permeated everything just like the coastline back home. It was strange knowing Bella’s friends were just barely waking up when it was already nearly midday for her. 

“I’m going to give you about an hour before jet lag hits you and kicks your ass, let’s get to the hotel.” Sivil took the small pack from her shoulder and threw it over his own, guiding her out of the large airport gate. 

“Joke’s on you, my layover was an hour longer than I expected and it already has,” the woman rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms in an attempt to wake up. 

“We can ride with the windows down if that’s what you want,” he’d led them through the parking lot towards a rental vehicle. The inside smelled like plastic and air fresheners. She missed his motorcycle already, but it was parked in front of Alice’s and his duplex back on the West Coast. 

The combo of humidity and heat kicked the woman in the gut, taking her breath away even with the windows down on the interstate. On the ride over to the hotel she tried to pay attention to the events there’d be at the tracks, but by the time he pulled into the hotel’s parking area she was struggling to stay awake. They climbed the stairs to the second level of rooms and deposited their things onto the table across the room. Before Sivil could offer her anything to eat she’d already started kicking her shoes off and undoing her bra. He turned around to her pulling the t-shirt over her head, jeans already tossed aside. Clad in nothing but panties she crawled in under the covers of the only bed in the room. 

Her presence distracted him enough that making phone calls to his manager and team was a challenge; every time he’d pace close to the bed he wanted nothing more to crawl under the blankets with her. His hands could still feel the weight of her breasts, the curve of her hips; Sivil could practically smell her from across the room where he stood, if only because she was burned into his memory over the many years they’d been close friends. 

He blamed himself for what had happened with Geo – he was out of town that week, competing in races across the country. Only once he’d made it back to town had he heard about her Spring Break heartache, and how Alice had been the only one there to help her. Bella was a strong woman, but love was one of her weaknesses. She loved people to the point of breaking herself in order to be of use to them… Caring for young children in school, going into the medical field, all of it was for other people. More than once the woman had looked up to him realizing that she’d left herself out of her own plans. 

The hope was that this trip out of town would give her a reset, a well-needed break. The dark-furred young man sat on the edge of the bed. Bella had rolled almost to the middle of the queen-sized bed, taking up a good chunk of it. He couldn’t tell if she was actually asleep or just resting, so he ran his hand through her hair. She hummed with pleasure, one eye cracking open enough to look at him. A hand emerged from under the bedding, coming to a rest on his thigh. With a tired sigh she shut her eyes and scooted closer to him, encouraging him to continue his petting. He settled down on his side and started massaging her scalp, occasionally pulling at her hair with his large hand. She’d let it grow out so long the last year or so, he’d noticed. It felt like only last year it’d been a pixie cut, but logically he remembered it being right before college that she’d chopped it all off last. He used the side of his thumb to smooth out the short fur on the bridge of her nose, switching directions to go with the grain between her eyes. Along her left cheek he brushed some of her hair out of the way, stroking the row of three red triangular markings under her eye. 

While Bella napped Sivil grabbed his laptop and played games. A few hours after she went down, the young woman rolled over and stretched, not quite awake but beginning to rouse. Thunder rolling across the city woke her completely a few minutes later; he glanced to the window and checked his weather app. He had races beginning the next day, and rain would serve only to make things dangerous. 

Groggy with sleep, she sat up and glanced over at him. After a few moments, she hauled herself out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. It confused him, but he didn’t question it much. 

“Oof, I hate using airplane lavatories. They’re like closets with a toilet. And airports are worse, there’s plenty of room but you have to drag all your shit in the stall with you or you risk someone stealing everything while you’re taking a dump,” she explained. He didn’t really understand the problem, since he checked most of his luggage. 

“Maybe if you weren’t such a stubborn mule about keeping all your stuff carry-on, that wouldn’t be a problem,” he countered, “You could use a purse like a normal woman.” She huffed.

“Purses are the creation of capitalism and I don’t buy into that.” Turning her shirt around a few times, she found the sleeves and put it back on. He struggled to focus, feeling his pants stir slightly. 

The rain came on suddenly, drumming on the walkway in front of their room. There was one more story above them, but the stairwell was metal and they could clearly hear someone cursing and running upstairs to the safety of their rooms. Bella looked over at Sivil, whose face had darkened like his own personal thundercloud loomed overhead. Over the years he’d talked about road conditions during speed runs and track difficulties, mostly due to rain or ice. Sometimes races were pushed off by hours or days, depending on the weather. Sivil grabbed his phone and paused his game.

“Hey Mitch, it’s me. Are they going to let us on the tracks tomorrow?” He paused, listening. 

“Really? Are they sure that’s a good idea?” They made eye contact, and he raised an eyebrow. 

“What’s he saying?” She mouthed to him, but he just sighed.

“Aight, thanks man. I’ll see you at 2 tomorrow.” He tossed his phone down on the table next to the computer and raked a hand through his hair. All he did was shake his head disapprovingly. 

“Wait, they’re not canceling?” Bella crossed her legs under her, concern playing across her face. 

“It’s too big a race, they don’t want to lose the crowds. Hopefully it’s just a short storm and it washes all the oil off the tracks in time for tomorrow’s meet. I’ve got a few things the next three days, but those aren’t as big as the opening race. Hell, I hope we brought the right tires for this.” A very disgruntled Sivil went back to his game. 

Bella was quiet for a while after that. She texted Alice and Jazzie about her flight over and the differences between coasts. Only Alice knew exactly how worried she was about the rain, but neither knew what they could do in this situation. She passed on well-wishes from the gang to him, and he smiled slightly in response. 

A glance in the mini fridge told her they needed to go out for food, but a knock at the door put a hold to her scheming – he popped out of his chair and answered, handing off a few bills to a delivery driver and returning with a few plastic bags with the generic “Thank You” text on the side. 

“This is from the Italian place down the street, I’ve had it before and it was really good. I got bruschetta for both of us, some fresh garlic bread, and two pastas. You can have first pick of it, I’ll eat whatever you don’t want.” 

Spread on the table were two sets of plastic utensils, a foil pouch of what she presumed was the garlic bread, and in three take-out boxes were the bruschetta and pastas. She grabbed the first one and checked; it was some sort of creamy red sauce with slices of sausage in it, and the second was alfredo with chicken and broccoli. She kept the first and piled some garlic bread on top, sliding the rest to him. They started with the appetizer, piling the roasted tomatoes on top of the sliced bread it came with. She hadn’t had Italian in forever, and it was delicious. 

“I knew you’d get hungry, you always are,” he laughed at her with a mouthful of bread. 

“I’m also sweaty and gross from the weird temperature difference, after I eat I’m showering,” Bella pointed at him with her fork, a chunk of meat speared to the end. He nodded, knowing the feeling himself. She ate a few more bites before throwing the rest in the fridge, unpacking a gallon bag with her shampoo and conditioner travel bottles, among other various bathroom items, from her duffel bag. 

“The water heater has almost endless hot water so don’t be afraid to soak,” he said. Bella had a penchant for soaking after long trips, today would be no exception he was sure. “And after, we can explore once the rain lets up.” 

“If the rain lets up,” Bella called back to him, right before shutting the bathroom door. He waited, but didn’t hear the lock slide into place. 

She got undressed again, completely this time, brushing her knotted hair. Then with nothing on she stood in front of the tall sink mirror waiting for the water to heat up completely; turning side to side she idly sucked her stomach in and lifted her breasts to varying degrees. Eventually she stopped to check the water, climbing in. The water hit her shoulders and she sighed in relief, closing her eyes. After a moment or two she reached for the counter-top to grab her toothbrush and toothpaste, quickly cleaning her mouth out. With that done she shampooed her hair, scrubbing her scalp. It was therapeutic, as if she were at a spa. While the conditioner sat in her hair she lathered soap into her fur, getting head to toe. 

A quick rinse got rid of the foamy soap, leaving her smelling like blueberries and cream. It hadn’t been very long since she’d gotten in, so she decided to stand under the heat a little longer. Her hands roamed idly, partly to make sure she hadn’t missed any soap. She took the hotel’s wash cloth and ran it under the water, running it between her legs. The hot water shocked her system, her clit sending an electric shock deep within. Bella looked up at the nozzle, realizing it was a removable head she could move. 

The young woman pulled it down, turning the water from scalding hot to a more comfortable level before putting her foot up on the edge of the tub. Having the water surge between her thighs took her breath away; it had a pulse setting meant for massaging aching muscles… She figured this counted. With one hand she held the shower head and the other she grabbed her breast, squeezing and rolling her nipple. It didn’t take long to reach the edge, she’d been pent up for days and hadn’t taken care of the urge. Her ears flipped back and she squeezed her eyes shut, gasping as quietly as she could to avoid Sivil noticing through the door. It took a moment for her to recover but Bella replaced the shower head, leaning against the wall. There came a knock at the door - 

“Hey Bells? Could I come in?” 

“Yeah sure, what do you need?” She was glad she’d finished when she did, it’d have been embarrassing to get caught by Sivil… 

“You, actually,” he was quiet as he nudged his face in through the curtain; she could tell he was shirtless. She moved out of the way and he climbed in, already undressed. He picked her up and pressed her against the opposite end of the shower so that they were both out of the water, giving her a firm kiss. Bella wrapped her legs around his hips to hold on, surprised by the turn of events. It was still new to her that he’d had feelings for her for so long… Especially now that he was acting on them. 

“What was that about?” She said breathlessly.

“I’m just really glad you’re here, I wouldn’t change things for the world,” his voice was wistful. Green eyes met blue, and for a moment she felt like she was looking into someone else’s eyes. Geo’s had been a similar color, but before she went down the rabbit hole that was before her she closed her eyes. A smile played at the corners of her mouth.

“You’ve always been that kind of romantic, I’m not surprised.”

“Yeah?” He smiled in return, hands cupping her ass to hoist her up a few more inches. His head tilted down, the steel grey fur of his cheek brushing against her creamy brown one. She relaxed into his grip, noticing as she slid down inch by inch again that he’d raised her away from his hard cock a moment before. A tilt of the hips was all it took to brush his tip, sending it twitching against her ass cheek. “Careful, you’ll get it in the ass if you’re not careful,” he warned. Bella raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you know by now that I’d enjoy that?” Her coy remark hit home, surprising him slightly. He obviously hadn’t been expecting that reaction. 

“Oh my, then I suppose you should probably stand up...” He let her slide to her feet, watching her closely for a second. She eyed him as she sidled back into the water, turning away from him momentarily to put her face in the water to hide how shy she was feeling. 

A hand on her shoulder guided her into leaning against the wall in front of her, water hitting the base of her hips and running down her sides. The wolf murred with curiosity, glancing behind at the taller man. He’d grabbed a tube from the edge of the tub she only just noticed was personal lube, coating his cock to the base. There was some extra on his fingers; they slid between her thighs, spreading her lips to plunge into her depths. After her first climax Bella’s pussy was sensitive, causing her to tremble. He twisted his fingers around to coat her, pulling them out to immediately replace them with the tip of his dick. With gentle motions he began to work deeper into her, easing her onto his length. 

As soon as he’d fit himself as deep as he could go, Sivil picked up speed. Her wet ass hit his hips each time with a slapping sound, made even lewder by the moans she was making. He worked to a rhythm, using one of his slick fingers to slide knuckle deep into her ass. The shocked gasp from the woman immediately turned into a moan as he slid his whole girth home inside. A few more thrusts were all it took for her to begin squeezing tighter around his finger and cock, causing him to slow down and take his time with her. His finger slipped in and out in almost the same pattern as his hips moved, making her twitch. 

“You really are a kinky little puppy, aren’t you,” he groaned into her ear, pulling on a handful of her wet hair. She whined happily, pleased with his sudden interests. Sivil removed his finger, pausing while still inside her. Bella could hear the bottle open, then snap shut. He pulled out, and she could hear the slight squelching noise of lube being applied again. The jackal spread his partner’s ass cheeks, squeezing comfortable handfuls. There was so much woman, he could hardly believe this was the friend he’d grown up with. 

Bella felt the tip of his cock press against her asshole, relaxing enough to let him pop the tip inside. It was a tight fit, the stretching sensation was a shock to both their systems. He reached around, finding her clit with one hand while the other arm leaned against the shower wall. She didn’t seem to have difficulties taking him, which was a pleasant relief to Sivil – he’d worried she wouldn’t be able to handle it. 

“May I start?” He murmured into her ear, causing her to shiver again. Bella nodded slightly, finding it hard to catch her breath properly. Indeed, she was basically speechless. The shower had gone from solo playtime to kinky anal in less than half an hour… Not that she was complaining. At all.

He took his time with the first push, to make sure she didn’t get hurt, but when there were no problems he sped up. It was different from being inside her pussy; it gripped differently, sucking him in deeper and milking him for every drop he’d give. It was difficult to think clearly while buried inside of her; Sivil wrapped his arms around her hips and plunged into her over and over, almost losing himself to the sensations. Bella leaned hard against the shower wall, legs beginning to weaken from pleasure. When his hands moved to fondle her breasts she slid one down between her legs, quivering when he caught on; he went between playing with her clit and finger fucking her, teasing her as his member did its job to drive her crazy. 

Finally there was no amount of holding back that could save her from her finish. He’d done too well at edging her, bringing her too close. With his fingers buried deep and rubbing against her G-spot, Bella couldn’t hold back any longer. She let out a gasp of air she hadn’t known she’d been holding in as a drawn-out moan, muscles tightening until she could hardly move. He continued through her climax, drawing it out longer. Each thrust into her tight ass kept her at the edge, spasming around his fingers and cock. The man couldn’t resist her any longer; he was suddenly overcome by the sensations of the lovely wolf wrapped snugly around his length. A final push sent his knot deep into her firm butt, releasing his pent-up seed within. 

It didn’t occur to him until a moment later that the water had begun to cool – he was leaned over the shorter woman, shielding her from most of the spray. She was starting to shiver now that they were finished, not good at all. The water got turned off, a plush towel wrapped around her shoulders. Out of the shower the room had a heat lamp which had thankfully been turned on – one of the reasons he’d picked this hotel. There’d been a lot of thought and planning to prepare for her trip out to see him.

Bella dried her hair off as best she could with the towel, wrapping it up in a new one afterward. She laid back spread eagle on the bed – which took up a surprising amount of the bed. Their TV informed them that the rain would continue onward into the early hours of the morning, effectively stranding the two to their room. It was warm rain, which made both of them slightly uncomfortable. Back home the only kind of precipitation they had were “cold rain” and “even colder rain,” neither of which included temperatures warm enough to wear tank tops. 

It was lucky for them that the TV had an HDMI connection; the laptop got plugged in, Netflix fired up, and the marathon began. Neither were sure when the rain stopped, because not long after their show started they felt drowsy. The feeling was infectious, beginning in Bella and spreading to Sivil. From start to finish their day had been crazy and full of action – their evening became filled with the inverse; quiet conversations petered out as one or both would nap, pressed up against each other and intertwined. 

_‘He really knows how to put me at ease,’_ Bella mused to herself. It’d been a while since she’d been so happy, as if she’d been denying herself the pleasure in order to give the happiness to better-deserving people in her life. Well, no more. It was time for her to let go of the past and work towards a healthier relationship with herself… and maybe others. She was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are they as perfect together as they hope? Let me know :3c


	9. I Need a Medic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Sivil's opening race on the track. Bella meets an asshole with all the answers.

Bella screamed in horror, the crowd around her filled with gasps and worried murmurs. With little understanding of what was going on beyond the fence in front of her, all she could do was hold her breath. Paramedics carried Sivil off the track, his motorcycle a smoking pile of twisted metal against the barrier where he’d slid to a stop. Between the crowd around her and the motorcycles still racing ahead on the track it was hard to hear what was going on – the next time she blinked she was sitting next to him strapped to a stretcher inside an ambulance, riding to the closest hospital. She wasn’t sure but she thought at one point the EMT might have asked her for some of his medical history. All the way to the hospital was a blur except for her beautiful friend’s labored breathing after having passed out from the pain. Or was it from painkillers? 

“Ma’am you’ll have to stay here,” the young woman who’d driven the ambulance tried to catch Bella’s attention with minimal success. The wolf was in shock, standing with a mask of worry painted on her face. She’d asked a hundred times to make sure she was his emergency contact, forgetting each time what they’d said in response. Yes they would call her when he was out of surgery. No she could not go with them any further. No he was not awake, no he was not going to die. Couldn’t die. Couldn’t abandon her, leaving her alone so far from home.

The waiting room where she was ushered to was quiet, except for a few coughs and a fussy toddler playing on the floor in a corner. It was more crowded than any ER she’d ever had to go to, but she’d been told big city hospitals were generally more crowded with longer wait times for the patients. Bella didn’t register this information, but part of her understood this was how it was going to be during her wait for her closest friend. This room was full of those who were injured or waiting for loved ones to return, and the tension in the room was tinged with exhaustion. A scan of the room told her there were no seats that had spaces between her and others on both sides, so she settled for a chair in the corner furthest from the child and grumpy parent. 

As her wait extended, Bella began watching the crowds entering and exiting the various doors of the room. Nurses and patients would filter through the double doors, presumably where the exam rooms were. A pair of bored desk workers sat at the sign-in area, handing clipboards off to people with barely a glance to those they were helping. 

“Listen lady, I’ve been here for three hours waiting to see someone. This is serious, I need stitches. Can’t you find some lackey with a sewing kit to help me?” A white fox with curly brown hair had approached the counter where the clipboards were, a bandage wrapped around his hand. From where he’d stood up there came a hushed whisper to come sit back down and stop harassing the ‘poor nurse.’ He turned around to shoot daggers at the rabbit who’d spoken, presumably his friend. Bella stared harder at the man standing across the room; he seemed familiar. 

“As I was saying, I’ve been bleeding profusely for three hours, please fix this situation or I’m going to report all of you for a multitude of different offenses. My father is a head surgeon at Mercy, I know exactly how this place works.” He leaned down on his elbows, staring the woman down. From her computer chair, the whippet smacked her gum vacantly in response. The fox’s good hand slammed down on the counter, causing heads to turn throughout the ER waiting room. An itch grew in the back of Bella’s mind. 

“Geo, please -” The neon bunny hopped up from his seat. In a few steps he’d crossed the room to the perturbed vulpine. Such a small creature might normally struggle with dragging the taller man around but a dark-furred blue, white, and black lion came to his aid in calming the hysterical patient-in-waiting. They all sat down beside an extremely tall maned wolf that they had to nearly climb over to cross by. She stared the whole time, shock dulling her recollection speed. Wait, Geo?

_Her_ Geo?

“Ma’am?” 

“Ma’am are you Miss Green?” A rat snake with a clipboard was standing above her with an expectant expression on her face. She seemed patient and understanding, Bella thought. Cool.

“Yeah… Yeah, I am. Uh, news?” Words were a struggle, each new incomplete thought bitter on her tongue. This was the most trouble she’d had keeping herself together in… god, how long? Shit, while she’d spaced out again the woman had begun talking.

“...In recovery. He’ll need more surgeries tomorrow if the swelling gets worse, but Sivil should be able to have visitors by tonight once he’s out of recovery. I’d suggest going home and resting, you look like you need a hot shower and a nap.” Such normal advice for what felt like a horrible catastrophe. Food and sleep? When Sivil was here?

“Thanks. I’ll be fine here,” the words seemed like they came from far away, but it was her voice speaking. Bella looked down at her phone. During the madness she’d forgotten to text or call Alice, but now she was too tired to approach that hurdle. Each thought was either replaying Sivil’s crash in slow motion or a sludgy mix of stress and fear for the future. Only when the tears started to drip down her jaw did she go to wipe them away. Public crying was embarrassing, and something a child would do. She had more control than that. 

Motion in her periphery caught her attention; the maned wolf had come over, bringing a box of thin scratchy hospital tissues with him. She pulled one out of the procured box but didn’t use it, crumpling it between her fingertips. 

“If they’re already there in hand you may as well use them,” the tall stranger was obviously staring at her from the corner of his eye. She hadn’t noticed him looking in her direction once the entire time she’d been watching the room – as far as she’d seen he had only looked at Geo and the rabbit, which weren’t even kind of sitting in the same direction as her. How’d he known to come over? As if to answer her question, he continued. “I could tell you’d be a wreck once that orderly left. There were no tissues on your corner table.” He shrugged and got up, fitting a cigarette in his lips and facing the door that led to the outdoor smoking area. A glance to his seat he’d been filling told her the fox and rabbit had finally been taken back to a room, whether or not it was because of the outburst. 

She stood and followed him, not saying anything until he’d started to light up.

“Geo.” 

“Yeah? What about him?” His words were muffled by the cigarette.

“He reminds me of someone I met a year ago, but he looks different.” Her arms crossed.

“He used to look a lot dumber, hmm. You meet at the supermarket or something?” He hadn’t looked directly at her yet, but he’d turned his body so that he was about 90 degrees to her. It wasn’t exactly aloof the way he was avoiding looking at her… More, he didn’t want to be placed in a situation where he was out of his comfort zone. She didn’t say anything about it, there was no point.

“He went to Oregon for his spring break trip last year, my town. Met at a bar.”

“Geo drinks.” It was matter-of-fact, a sort-of agreement. Bella wasn’t wrong. 

“Stayed with me for three or four days, even checked out of his hotel.” She went quiet, remembering. He looked at her then.

“No wonder that shithead made his money stretch so well,” he exhaled with a puff of smoke. “Crafty one, he is.” 

“Then he just vanished, the morning after asking if I was on birth control. He said something happened to his sister, she’d been in an accident and he had to go home. Then after months of trying to get him to reply she texts me saying she was his girlfriend and that I was nothing to him.” Tears arrived unwelcome, causing her to curse under her breath. “I thought I was over it, sorry.”

“You don’t need to justify your pain to me, I’m just a stranger you met in a waiting room.”

“But you’re more than that, you’re his friend. Aren’t you?”

“That depends on what happens next in your story. I’m picky with the...” he growled deep in his chest, “...Company I keep. I know he’s a dick but he hadn’t done anything to risk my friendship yet.” He scorched the last centimeter of his cig, lighting up another one with the butt of his first. 

“Well. That’s good to know, I guess. But...” Her eyes closed. Sivil mixed with Geo in the inky darkness, thoughts of how she’d hidden her pain from her best friend for months after the spring break fiasco. She was embarrassed at how easily she’d fallen for the white-furred fox. “I want to know more. Tell me things that’ll make me hate him.”

“You what?” He knew what she was getting at, but wanted to hear her say it.

“I want to hate him. Give me something, anything. Bullied kids in elementary school, picks his nose and eats it, steals from old ladies. I just want him out of my head.” A bird moving between bushes caught her eye, holding her attention superficially while she spoke. When it flew away she searched the grungy outdoor area for something to stare at besides the much taller man smoking beside her. There was silence for a minute.

“He’s getting married.”

She stood in stunned silence, an odd heat in her collarbones burning her from the inside out. The further through her body it spread the colder it felt, numbing her. Bella regretted asking anything at all. Married. Her fingers went numb, the grip around her tissue loosening enough that it slipped out of her grasp. A breeze picked it up, scuttling it across the cracked cement toward the bushes.

“In less than a week, actually. That’s why I’m here and not studying.” Ash floated to the ground as he flicked his stoke. 

“Is it the same girl as before? The one who sent me the shitty texts? What a bitch,” Bella said. 

“Presumably. As far as I knew he’d only ever been with her the past two years.” _Except you_ , he seemed to add unspoken. 

“Forget I said anything. Thanks for talking, I’m going to go back to my hotel. Being alone sounds great now,” She felt the weight of the day settling down on her shoulders rapidly. Her phone said it was only half past six but it felt later, with all the stress she’d been handed in the last four hours. He’d nursed his second light throughout their conversation, bringing it nearly halfway down. With a gentle twist the cherry fell to the ground, the rest of it being stashed in his carton. 

“Need a ride?” It was said without concern; he’d help if she needed it, or fuck off if she didn’t.

“No, I was just going to download Uber and set it up real quick. Sivil said the bus system is confusing here so I should avoid it.” She pulled up the Play Store.

“I can just take you, don’t worry about it. The guys are probably already out and finding somewhere to eat, I’ll catch up later.”

“Really?” Her ears perked up with curiosity.

“Nah. Fuck em, I’m not hungry anyway.” His stomach growled, too quiet for her to hear.

“...Oh. Okay.” Bella followed the taller man, relieved he was walking slow enough for her to keep up. He unlocked a beige Honda, grabbing a stack of battered textbooks and dropping them on a pile of similar books in the backseat. The wolf almost sat down, raising her butt back up enough for him to rescue a nicer looking book that he then held in his lap. 

“-me remind you, orgasm is physiological; it is a spontaneous, involuntary release of tension, generated in response to sex-related stimuli. But the perpetrator’s lawyer made sure the jury-” The Bluetooth connected to his phone, continuing the podcast he’d been listening to. The man hit the volume button and silenced the podcast on what she could only presume was about something weird and perverted.

“Sorry, interesting Ted Talk.” He started the car up and headed to the exit of the parking lot, paying the toll to get out.

“So… I’m at the Embassy Suites across this side of town,” Bella typed the address Sivil had sent her into her GPS. 

“I know it; fancy place in Ybor, on Palm Avenue?” He turned the direction she presumed they needed, nodding even though he was watching the road. “Alright, we’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

“The map says ETA 30 minutes?” Maybe he knew shortcuts.

“20 minutes… tops.” 

~~~

He wasn’t wrong; 22 minutes later, he parked in front of the building wing she’d first walked into for the first time such a short while ago. The young woman retraced her steps wearily, sighing. The key card clicked inside the lock, allowing her to swing the door open. Ducking through the door, the tips of his ears touched the frame. He hovered inside the door, waiting for a cue from Bella. There was none, so he continued to stand and watch her. Her shoes were kicked to the floor and her keys, glasses, and phone were dumped haphazardly on one of the multiple tables littered throughout the room. A curtain was drawn across the sliding glass door to cover up the remaining sunlight, shrouding the room in darkness. The bra she wore was removed from under the shirt, and she slipped out of her pants. 

From the doorway he watched, realizing she was slipping under the surface of the shock lapping at her mind. With a sigh he left, turned his car off, then slid his shoes off and dropped them against the wall in the entryway. Bella had collapsed on the single queen-sized bed, facing away from him. He sat with care, nudging her messy long hair up out of the way so it wouldn’t get trapped underneath his body. A sniffle rose from the woman, indicating her quietly running tears in the center of the bed. The much taller maned wolf slipped his arm under a pillow, hauling her closer with his loose arm. She fit well enough into his shape, encased in the heat of his body; a finger traced the markings on her left ear, the one free of the pillow. 

“I’m Raelin, by the way. You never asked my name, nor I yours, but I figure since we’re in bed together I should say something.” His voice was quiet, soothing in a manner she couldn’t really explain even to herself. A warning bell went off in her mind, telling her that having a strange man against her before he’d actually introduced himself was supposed to be bad.

But hadn’t she done the same with Geo? Really, though, he was safe. She relaxed slightly, keeping her eyes closed. “I’m sorry, that’s really rude of me… I’m Bella, thank you for the ride home. I didn’t expect you to stay, though.”

“Hm, I didn’t expect to stay either though. Part of the reason why I didn’t bother introducing myself sooner, you looked like the kind of woman who wouldn’t need any help.” Raelin’s hand left the back of her ear, settling onto his side now that she’d calmed down enough to begin talking again.

Her stress bounced back and forth from one extreme to another; one moment she had it under control, another she was queasy with unease. Sudden changes only served to fuel her anxiety, and this day had been uncomfortably packed with them. Her head shook a bit; it was a mystery how he’d presumed she didn’t need help. It’s not like she could do anything to fix things, especially on her own.

“I need to call my best friend. At least send her texts explaining how things are down here, I’m out of my element and it’s been so many years since I’ve been put on the spot. You don’t know me from Adam, your arms are around me like we’ve been together for years, Sivil is hamburger meat in a hospital bed, and god help me how am I going to get anything done in this city?” Words spilled from her like a leaky faucet, unbidden but heartfelt. She was out of her element, it was overwhelming. Raelin’s hand rubbed her arm gently, doing his best to be understanding. He didn’t know what she’d react to best, but it seemed to work.

Lurching from her resting position a moment later, she hopped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, dry heaving into the toilet. The young wolf became hysterical, breathing rate increasing as she fought an all-out panic attack. Once she was leaning against the bathtub instead of burying her face in the bowl he scooped her up, fireman hold. The bed supported the both of them yet again, once he’d deposited her carefully upon the blankets. 

“I’m making a big deal out of nothing,” a ragged whisper escaped her.

“Not nothing, but you could certainly do with calming down. Nap, rest, your life will still be here in an hour or two.” He laid on his back beside her, an arm tucked under his head. He didn’t mean to fall asleep, but within a few minutes Raelin was breathing deeply. Bella turned around to look at him, studying his features. 

Big, fluff-filled ears laid against the pillow. His mane was darker, individual hairs tawny and bronze deep within – it traveled up the back of his head and turned into a short, messy mohawk of sorts. His hair looked trimmed around the jawline, hiding the fluffy nature of his fur. This man was more carefully groomed than he first appeared, but she could tell where most of it was done himself. Creamy white fur from his chest continued up along his lower jaw, broken up by the dark fur around his nose. 

“You’re staring, that’s not very nice,” he mumbled without opening an eye. She blushed and laid back down.

“Sorry, I do that a lot.”

“I gathered.” He yawned, but now that she knew he’d been awake the entire time it was unclear if it was for show or actually a real one. The clock on the wall ticked slowly, marking every boring second. Falling asleep under a lot of pressure was hard, even though on a normal day she could nap whenever she chose. Bella’s mind wandered, bouncing from thought to thought like a ping pong ball; sleep overtook her without her completely noticing, the most gradual descent into darkness possible. 

~~~

“Your total tonight will be $30.47.” Voices from the door caught her attention before she was totally coherent. Coins jingled, the door shut, and Raelin crossed the room holding a large brown paper bag. 

“You’re just in time to eat; I was going to wake you up but then I saw you were waking up on your own.” The bag crinkled when he set it down on the table, Chinese take-out boxes procured from within. He shook a box of what sounded like rice. “I didn’t know what you’d eat so I just… got everything.”

“That doesn’t look like everything,” Bella was groggy and skeptical, an interesting mix she wasn’t used to.

“Oh, yeah. I lied about that.” What ever could have tipped her off? She rolled her eyes. “I have fried and white rice, something chicken because everyone eats chicken, and shrimp because if you don’t like it I’ll eat it.” 

“Gross, shrimp. What kind of chicken?” 

“It had mixed vegetables listed with it, so I’m gonna guess a stir fry type. I dunno, I never eat Asian food.” 

“Chicken and white rice, soy sauce, and a fortune cookie please.” The red wolf stood from the bed, waiting a moment for her equilibrium to catch up before she moved. Hunger tore through her, a sickening mixture of nausea and acid pangs. She started to scarf her food before completely sitting down, shoving a few mouthfuls of rice and chicken into her face to calm her stomach. 

“Jesus, slow down or you’ll throw up for real this time.” He’d only eaten a few bites of his food, after having sorted hers out for her. 

They passed the time quietly, eating their fill before she started to get antsy. It was almost 9pm, and she didn’t know how long visitation would be open for Sivil. There were a few false starts before she was able to ask Raelin for a ride, to which he calmly nodded, crumpled up his napkin, and got his shoes on. It took longer for Bella, who had to put her bra back on and find a pair of pants. 

Another 20 minute ride took her back to the lobby of the hospital proper, away from the emergency room area she’d seen before. There were a few people waiting in the lobby that had name tags on who were alerting visitors to their presence; the hospital was apparently so big that they had guides to take you wherever you might need, so that you didn’t get lost. A quick check in with the front desk got Sivil’s room number and off they went.

Raelin stood across the hall outside the room when they arrived, letting Bella go in alone. She timidly knocked on the open door, entering the space. Sivil’s warm green eyes followed her sleepily as she walked in, a smile struggling to form. 

“Promised I’d be okay,” he murmured, clicking a button attached to his IV stand. It clicked, whirred, and within a few moments he was able to move himself into a sitting position with less pain. Her eyes filled with tears for the millionth time that day, threatening to fall in fat droplets. The big chair that doubled for a guest seat next to the bed wasn’t close enough so she dragged it closer, lowering the frame of the bed so that she could lean over to him. He was shaved in a few places, she noticed; some holding stitches, but most looking like IV sites and entry spots for procedures. His dark-furred hand came to rest on the back of her brunette hair, keeping her close. 

“I don’t know if you’ve seen yourself recently but you don’t look okay...” It felt like her eyes hadn’t stopped burning in hours, either crying or in-between bursts of emotion. 

“The doctors said I was lucky to be able to walk, I should have a broken back but I got off with a blown disc in my lower back. I’ll probably have some major chronic pain, so there’s my green card,” he cheerfully grinned, ruffling the bangs of the now positively terrified wolf leaning against him. The medicine he’d dispensed a few moments earlier had begun to affect him. 

“You’re the unluckiest lucky person I’ve ever met, Sivil Everett. How have I let you out of my sight before? Things like this happen to people like you, and I worry.” She rested her snout on the sterile-scented bedding beside his shoulder. Bella couldn’t help but stress out on a normal day, constantly thinking about her loved ones – kids in her classes, friends she’d made over the years… She had a bleeding heart and was constantly trying to rein it in. 

“Hey, hey, hey. Snap out of it, you’re spiraling again,” Sivil tutted softly, tapping a finger on her dark nose. She looked up to make eye contact, searching for a long while. 

A nurse walked by, stopping to let know Raelin and Bella know visitors would have to leave soon. She offered to bring him things from the hotel, but he urged her to go out and see the city until she had to go home – after all, her vacation lasted for another four days. He wanted her to relax and make the most of her time out of state, but knew it would likely be in vain. As soon as his major injuries were fixed he would likely be sent home, where he’d have to take a few months on therapy and healing. Their foreheads bumped softly, staring into each other’s eyes silently. After a moment Bella sighed in quiet agreement, letting him know that she would do her best for him. Sivil smiled and pulled on her ear, pleased. 

“It’s tough without you, but I should take the chance to see things. If that’s seriously what you’d rather I spend my time on, weirdo.” He nodded, she sighed, and they embraced one last time before being guided back to the nurse’s station. Bella glanced back at his door before she turned to the elevator door. Guilt overtook her once she realized she just agreed to enjoy the rest of her trip while her best friend was recovering in a hospital. This was supposed to be _their_ trip...

~~~

“I’ve taken you on a walk of the closest mall, we stared at sad, small creatures for adoption at the pet store, and we sat on a bench in a park in the middle of the night. You’ve seen an abundance of small animals and young people, please stop with the dour expressions. It’s like the nurse gave you a death sentence on your boyfriend. Bella?” Raelin twitched in his seat, feeling sweat pearl at his temples from the stifling early evening heat. The two of them were currently sitting at said bench beneath a tree, the scenery seemingly ineffectual upon the young wolf beside him. He’d spent all afternoon trying anything that might appeal to her – not that he knew exactly what would do the trick. She was lost in herself, constantly checking her phone. 

Bella sighed. “Look, thank you Raelin; I swear your efforts are noticed, but this really isn’t the thing I need right now. Could we go back to the hotel for a while? It’s way too muggy out right now...” 

“That’s why I stayed within 15 minutes of the hospital, it’s nothing to get between here and the hotel. What do you need?” He usually didn’t have to ask people what they needed, though it was the simplest and most direct way of getting the information he wanted. 

“My sketchbook. I didn’t bring my laptop since I was only supposed to be in Florida for a few days, but I hardly go anywhere new without my book. I don’t know what I plan on drawing but it’s gonna be better than nothing at this point,” she said. 

He shrugged and stood. Raelin wasn’t necessarily concerned with the choices made, except that the answers satisfied his curiosity. There was always something to be known, sussed from the general populace around him. The shorter wolf stood second, checking her fur for brambles and dust before catching up swiftly. A handful of seagulls bullied inner city pigeons for their hard earned scraps in front of them, scattering and catching her eye when they walked along the pathway towards the parking lot. Kids screamed in the playground, traffic flowing seamlessly along the visible highways around them. A perfect bubble of natural chaos inside man’s organized suffering. 

“Hospital boy must be pretty special if you’re this fucked up over him.” It wasn’t a question.

“He’s my oldest, dearest friend. Imperfect as he is, we’ve been there for each other for as long as I can remember. My teenage years were formed around the two of us being inseparable, and this is a deep blow. I’ve never seen Sivil hurt this badly, he’s got a nearly spotless driving record and an even cleaner racing record. That bike is like an extension of his legs; the second he turns the engine over it’s like he’s riding a living, breathing creature. She purrs for him, and he flies. There’s nothing like it, man.” A smile played at her lips, tense from stress but genuine nonetheless. Bella could nearly feel it after how many hours she’d tagged along on unplanned camping trips in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Unspoken stories played behind her eyes, barely out of reach of Raelin who had begun to slow his pace down to comfortably walk beside her. 

“Sounds long-winded and involved, you have my undivided attention.” 

“That’s cool and all but you don’t have to play counselor for me, it’s weird enough that I’ve just let you take me around a strange city without any guarantee that I’d be fine by the time the day ends… I’m just going to attribute it to trauma and an over-trusting sense of community.” By this point they were out of the parking lot and on the way to the hotel, just another destination of many they’d had together that day. 

Raelin took a turn past a group of tourists, cursing them under his breath. “Stupid mother… Well, if you decide to change your mind I’ve taken it up as a personal quest of mine to make sure you leave this city safe and sound, or as safely and soundly as you can given circumstances. I owe you for my idiot friend’s mistakes, and after hearing what he did I’d rather hang here with you, honestly.” There were long pauses between conversation. It was comfortable, surprisingly. 

“How kind, truly. But I’m not a fair maiden in distress, you don’t have to white knight for someone your best friend did dirty. While it sucked, I’m over it. He was a fling, and I should have known better than to get my hopes up over a dude who lives at the opposite end of the map. Seriously.”

“I live at the other end of the map too, and I’m not that bad. That’s plus one person to balance the world back out, yeah?” He looked over at her through his peripheral vision; her eyes rolled momentarily.

“Now you’re just sounding desperate. We had a good thing going where you didn’t flirt and I didn’t have to pretend that your lines were really cheesy and forced. Don’t ruin this for us,” she said. 

“Desperate? Please, I’m single by choice.” 

“Aren’t we all? I can’t handle love right now,” Bella sighed. 

“Touchy subject there, is Hospital Boy your star-crossed lover from another life? Not that I believe in all that cockamamie bullshit, mind.” They pulled up a hill into the parking lot of the hotel, increasingly familiar to both of them over the course of the day. As they parked, both wolves gathered their things; Bella watched Raelin grab a backpack from behind her seat to stuff his books and papers into, along with a discreet Bluetooth headset. She had much less, so she waited until he opened his door before opening hers. 

“You know, I’m not sure about Sivil.” They headed towards her room. “He was always there for me, even when my parents died. If it wasn’t for his mom taking me in I’d have been a ward of the court, so that makes us almost siblings. But...” Her voice trailed off.

“But you fucked him.”

“W-what? How did you -” Her ears twitched with irritation at being so clearly called out.

“Oh please, I can smell it on you. Queen-size bed? Best friends since childhood? It has the classic makings for a tragic story, and you’re probably a sucker for that sappy shit, right?” He waited for her to open the room, the clothes strewn about from yesterday pointing out what he’d just said.

“You might have a point. It’s complicated, and this is why it’s probably not a good idea for me to hang out with you alone. You’re getting into the TMI zone, Raelin.” The young woman bent down to unzip her small suitcase, grabbing a large spiral sketchbook from the front pocket. She sat at the table and thumbed through the pages until she found a clean one. She considered it a sketch when she started, but only a few short minutes in Raelin could already tell she was creating something involved. He put his headset on and cranked the volume on his phone up, the guitar and drums from his music reaching across the room from his place on the bed. Two books were open in front of him, with a notebook open on his lap. His scribbling mixed with hers, soothing her slowly. The paper held an allure that people tended not to; books, art, anything created by others. She could see the world through the eyes of others. 

_Is he hot?_ Alice shot a text her way – she must finally be off work. 

_I mean sure, but he’s Geo’s childhood friend. Also he figured out I slept with Sivil._

_??????? You what???_ A second and third message arrived filled completely with emojis. She set her pencil down and typed out a response, glancing at Raelin. He’d barely moved.

_Yeah and now this really cute guy is just… sitting. On the bed. Wtf. He’s studying, I think?_

_I’m not telling you to cheat on Sivil. Bc you’re single. Remember? Get laid, you’re stressed._

_That makes me a slut, Alice. I’m not slutty._

_Woman you never have fun. Was Sivil it for you?_

_...Not exactly? He wasn’t very… y’know. I was his first._

_Romantic, but not what you need Bells. Hot! Wolf! Guy! Also petty revenge on Geo._

“I’m not sure Geo will care if you sleep with me, although if you’d asked I might have said I needed more time to prepare,” the sudden voice over her shoulder caused her to jump.

“Raelin! Don’t read over my shoulder. Rude.” She huffed and deleted a half-typed message talking about his looks.

“And no, I’m not taken.” He sat down at the table in the other chair, flipping her book around. As the maned gentleman studied the art he became reflective, seeing all the details she’d placed in it; it was Sivil, under a tree with his motorcycle parked in the grass. This had obviously been drawn from a memory, certain parts of the picture a rough sketch whereas others closer to the man and bike were fleshed out with hard pencil lines. “This is beautiful…”

“It’s our first trip. We’d just graduated high school, that’s when he decided that racing was going to be his life while I was going to college. Turns out he’s really good at it. Except now he might be retired.” One nasty crash doesn’t spell the end of a career, but how many times would his body survive such trauma? 

“Why do you spend your time worrying about futures that haven’t come to pass?” His large, dark hand laid on the top of her head, slowly petting the hair between her ears. Her eyes closed and shoulders sagged. “Here, come relax. Let’s turn on the TV and see what the local stations have for us,” he continued. 

“Sure, let’s… First, I have to use the bathroom.” She set her phone down, and not a moment later a notification lit her screen up. Bella didn’t notice and he didn’t say anything, but he saw who it was. 

[SE] _The doctors say I can take a car home, so I’ll have my manager drive me. He says he feels responsible for making me enter the race before I was ready. Come see me before I’m discharged?_

~~~

He sat on the bed and waited for her to return. He checked his missed messages and calls, unsurprised that his friends had chosen to ditch him for the better part of 6 hours without a word. The young maned wolf ran a hand through his bangs to clear his vision before typing up something to them.

 _Geo you’re a cock. Bella’s in town on vacation and I’m with her. Why didn’t you come clean and tell me what you did to this poor woman? Absolutely shameful. I’m not going to be going to your wedding, and if I hear you’re pulling stunts with anyone else I’ll be letting your wife know. Fuck you. And also fuck you because now she doesn’t trust me due to association. That’s ruining my good name._ Seriously. He couldn’t fathom what Geo had been thinking, picking his vapid princess of a fiance over… well, whatever Bella was. Hmm. 

_I get 10 stitches in my hand and you’re over here flirting with an ex? Low blow dude._ He was one to talk.

 _You cheated on your fiance though? I fail to see how I’m the villain. Anyway she’s traumatized yet again due to you and your cute stunt. I’m not looking for permission to fix your mistakes, I’m telling you to nut the fuck up and don’t let it happen again. You can find another best man._ He was done dealing with children who couldn’t keep it together. The man turned the TV on just in time for her to leave the bathroom. The local news had a picture of the motorcycle crash displayed and he quickly flipped the station over to something that looked like a cooking show. She sat at the end of the bed, attention diverted onto the show. A casual thought drifted through his head – _what would she do if she had to spend time here without him?_ Selfish, stupid and selfish.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this far n.n


End file.
